Frappuccino-glugging tech workers driving growth for coffee importers

Bewley's is the largest company on the market with revenues of over €100m

Sarah McCabe

The influx of US technology companies to Ireland has sparked a massive jump in demand for fresh coffee, one of Ireland's biggest suppliers has said.

Selling coffee to corporate clients Facebook, Google, LinkedIn and Airbnb - who all provide extensive in-house dining facilities to staff - is pushing growth close to 10pc this year, Java Republic boss Dave McKiernan said.

The wave of US and continental European workers brought to Ireland by these companies has helped to develop Ireland's palate, Mr McKiernan said.

His company is a business-to-business supplier. It imports coffee from around the world, processes it and sells it on, alongside coffee machines, to companies, restaurants and pubs.

Java Republic's main rival, Bewley's, is enjoying the same spoils.

Its sales were up by 7pc last year, chief executive John Cahill said.

Bewley's is the largest company on the market with revenues of over €100m.

"We have finally, belatedly, arrived at the 'third wave' of coffee - coffee as a science, where people care about how it is served, filtered and brewed," said Mr Cahill.

"A particularly big trend is non-traditional sellers entering the coffee market - garage forecourts and that kind of thing - that is where we see the biggest growth."

But Ireland still has a long way to go in comparison to the coffee habits of Scandinavians or Americans, he added.

"We are still only at a quarter of the consumption seen in Scandinavia, Italy or the US. And our tastes are less sophisticated - 80pc of all coffee bought by Irish consumers is still instant. In the US you get the opposite.

"Part of this comes down to Ireland's obsession with tea; we are a nation of tea-drinkers. But people are increasingly buying fresh coffee for their homes. A generational shift is happening."

Bewley's is committed to a business-to-business model rather than opening up any more cafes, he said. The company's long-running dispute about rent prices at its flagship Grafton Street restaurant has not ended.

This summer a company owned by developer Johnny Ronan won a Supreme Court appeal against a ruling that the €1.46m annual rent for Bewley's Cafe in Grafton Street must be allowed to fall to reflect market rates.

The decision means Bewley's must continue to pay the €1.46m rent up to 2017.

"We are paying twice the market average," said Mr Cahill.

"Our ambition is to get a fair rent. It is a reasonable request. We are now looking at other options in terms of how to pursue this."