Coffee-To-Go Megatrend Increases Demand for Cups...

The Coffee-to-go business is now arriving on the European continent, being successful in the US and the UK. Traditional cafй culture is adapting to busy everyday urban life causing an increase in demand for hot drink cups.

One of the largest manufacturers in this field, Huhtamaki (brands: Polarcup, Chinet, Bibo), predicts that paper cups will account for one third of the total market by 2004. This is good news for Stora Enso which is currently the leading producer of cup stock in Europe.

Today around 13 000 million hot drink cups are sold on the European market each year. Of this total, fibre-based paper cups account for some 10 percent. Though demand for these cups is now rising sharply.

"The demand is increasing. Among other things, brand coffees require that the cup has a good printing surface, and so cups have become an effective medium for advertising. All the significant players want to have their share of the market, as this is a megatrend like the hamburger boom was a couple of decades ago," says Kim Aganimov, Group Vice President of Huhtamaki.

Coffee-to-go originates in the US, from where take-away coffees have come to major cities in the UK. For example, in the global network of 2,500 cafйs of the American company, Starbucks Coffee, the UK constitutes its largest market in Europe. The joys of take-away coffee are now becoming a major part of the new cafй culture on the Continent, too. The Segafredo chain, for example, already has 195 espresso bars in Europe, most of which are located in Germany, France, Austria and southern Europe. Coffee-to-go is also likely to be a success in the Nordic countries, where the consumption of coffee per capita is about five times that of the UK.

A cafй bar applying the coffee-to-go concept does not have to invest in a normal coffee service or dishwashers, as the coffee is sold in board cups. Disposable cups make take-away retailing possible (higher turnover per square metre) and guarantee fast and hygienic service. Hot drink cups are dimensioned according to the various types of coffee available; for example, espresso and cafй au lait are served in cups sized especially for them.

The consumption experience and the technical functionality of the cup have also been the objects of long-term R&D work at Huhtamaki and Stora Enso. Among other things, this co-operation has resulted in fibre-based paper lids for cups, recently launched by Huhtamaki. The company uses Stora Enso's PE-coated Ensocup board for its hot drink cups, the strength properties and formability of which are suitable for demanding hot drink cup use.

"What is essential is the elongation value of the board, which is crucial for the formability of the cup. The rigidity properties of the cup are provided mainly by the top rim. The fibres of PE-coated Ensocup have been treated to make them hydrophobic, i.e. they repel hot drinks. This, together with good sealability, guarantees that the cup does not leak. In addition, the printability of cup stock is a factor which is becoming increasingly important in the present era of brand coffees", says Pдivi Suutari, Technical Marketing Manager of Stora Enso Packaging Boards.

Unipack.RU