Australians don’t just drink Coffee; they celebrate it as a daily ritual that fuels their dynamic lives.
It is a part of the Australian Culture, which is ubiquitous, from Melbourne’s bustling streets to Sydney’s laid-back coastal cafes.
Also, for a local Aussie, Coffee is not just about caffeine – it’s also a social currency that allows people to gather, converse, and enjoy a well-crafted cup.
Based on the latest available data, here are the updated statistics for Australia’s cafe and coffee market in 2024:
The Australian cafe and coffee market continues to grow strongly, building on its robust performance in recent years.
As of 2024, over 54,000 cafes and restaurants are operating across Australia. The coffee market in Australia is estimated to reach USD 1.55 billion in 2024.
Looking ahead, the market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.73% between 2024 and 2029, reaching an estimated value of USD 2.05 billion by 2029 (source: statista, modorintelligence).
This growth rate is slightly higher than forecasted, indicating continued strong demand for coffee products and cafe experiences in Australia.
Several factors are driving this growth:
1. Coffee is deeply ingrained in Australia’s culture, making it the nation’s favourite drink.
2. The growing trend of socializing over Coffee and dining is contributing to an increase in the number of cafes.
3. There is a rising popularity of specialty coffee trends that cater to diverse tastes and preferences.
4. New coffee formats, like ready-to-drink options, are emerging to satisfy evolving consumer demands.
5. Health-conscious and environmentally-aware consumers particularly favour certified organic and ethically sourced coffee.
The market is also seeing exciting trends, such as the increasing demand for non-alcoholic beverages in bars and the adoption of technology like self-ordering vending kiosks in cafes and petrol stations to enhance customer experience.
—
Now, if you have considered participating in one of the most popular food business ideas of 2024, which is driven by Australians’ love for coffee, you have landed on the right page.
This blog provides information about the best coffee shops and cafe franchises in Australia that can help you enter the cafe market.
Let’s head to the list of Cafe Franchises that you can buy in Australia.
Number of Franchises | 100+ |
Headquarters | Sydney |
Founded in | 2008 |
Franchise Cost | $300,000 to $400,000 |
The idea of Soul Origin was conceived by two brothers and their best mate in 2008.
During the global financial crisis, when businesses were shutting down, Soul Origin’s concept first saw the light of day.
The business thrived even during those hard financial times.
The idea to launch a coffee shop was born out of the sheer frustration of one of the co-founders, Hao.
He decided to launch his own coffee shop when he was disappointed by the quality of coffee in the food courts.
The strength behind the brand lies in the commitment of its founder. Their unwavering commitment to serving only the highest quality coffee made their business more resilient than most others.
The company’s website offers a wealth of information for investors looking to own one of its franchises. (Source: Official Website)
Number of Franchises | 189+ |
Headquarters | New South Wales, Australia |
Founded in | 1989 |
Franchise Cost | $250,000 – $500,000 |
Muffin Break is a bakery cafe known for its sweet and savoury bakery products.
Muffin Break originated in Canada in the 1970s and was later acquired by the Foodco Group in the 1980s.
The first Muffin Break cafe was launched in Australia in 1989 in Coolangatta, Queensland.
The cafe now boasts more than 189 Bakery franchises in Australia and around 300 stores globally, claiming to be one of the leaders in the category of bakery cafes.
The cafe chooses to locate itself in shopping centres, airports, train stations, and predominantly in children’s play centres.
Despite being a bakery cafe, Muffin Break also serves its customers gluten-free, dairy-free, low-fat, and Wright Watchers ® endorsed products.
What makes Muffin Break an attractive Cafe Franchise option is its reliable franchise model that has been tried and tested for more than 30 years.
In addition to the above, you also get to be a part of a brand that has won numerous awards over the years, including the 2023 Frandata 5-star rating and the 2022 Roy Morgan Coffee Shop of the Year Award (Source: Muffin Break)
Number of Franchises | 300 |
Headquarters | Queensland, Australia |
Founded in | 1989 |
Franchise Cost | $450,000 and upward |
The Coffee Club is a Famous Franchise in New Zealand and Australia with a coffeehouse-style cafe chain and an expanded restaurant-style menu with full-table service.
The cafe was founded in 1989 with the aim to provide “an excellent coffee”.
Having been disappointed in finding a late-night coffee place in Brisbane, two friends opened the cafe. The pair (Emmanuel Kokoris and Emmanuel Drivas) decided to launch their own coffeehouse that rested on the Greek concept of ‘philoxenia’, meaning hospitality to strangers. (Source: Queensland Business Leaders)
In 1994, five years after the launch of their first cafe, the franchise operation was launched. Internationally, the business has grown to more than 500 cafes globally.
What makes The Coffee Club a reliable Franchise opportunity is the 30-year experience of running coffee houses (through franchises) across the globe.
By joining them, you join a global brand that originated in Australia.
Number of Franchises | 100+ |
Headquarters | Port Melbourne |
Founded in | 1998 |
Franchise Cost | $300,000 – $500,000 |
Hudson’s Coffee is a friendship project started in 1998 by Ros Hudson and Mark Hawthorne.
Both were long-term friends who hail from England and started their first coffee outlet on Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.
Within a few weeks, long queues formed outside their doors.
Hudson’s sold their brand as a family-oriented coffee shop and gave generous discounts to its friends and family.
Their coffee shop was the first one to offer take-away coffee cups.
The chain took the next leap by opening its franchise at Melbourne Airport. The offer to open the store came from the airport authorities.
Since then, Hudson has become the leading coffee shop brand at major airports in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.
The brand roasts its own coffee at the location in two distinct blends.
Hudson’s Coffee has at least one store in every Australian state and territory.
You’d need an investment of $300,000 to $500,000 to own one of their franchises.
(Sources: Hudson’s, Wikipedia)
Number of Franchises | 460 (1400+ globally) |
Headquarters | Castle Hill, NSW |
Founded in | 1979 |
Franchise Cost | $$244,830 – $541,600 |
One of the most well-known brands in coffee shops, Gloria Jean’s Coffees was founded in the suburbs of Chicago.
The brand is named after its founder Gloria Jean Kvetko who lived in Long Grove, a small town, just outside Chicago.
The coffee shop was a small establishment that was a combination of coffee and a gift shop.
The brand set foot in Australia in 1996.
A pair of former marketing directors of an ad agency, Nabi Saleh and Peter Irvine, established Gloria Jean’s Coffees Australia.
The franchising, however, started operation a year later by opening two outlets back to back in Sydney.
By 2003, the Gloria Jean’s had spread to every state and territory in Australia. This landmark achievement came with the opening of the company’s store in Darwin, Northern Territory.
Gloria Jean’s success can be judged by its presence in 40 countries with over 1400 franchises.
What makes Gloria Jean’s an attractive Fracnhise option is its ongoing training support through its partner’s portal.
(Sources: Gloria Jean’s, Wikipedia)
Number of Franchises | 200 (Australia and globally) |
Headquarters | North Curl, New South Wales |
Founded in | 2003 |
Franchise Cost | US$84,500 – US$107,000 |
Not a coffee shop per se but they are a coffee business, and they do have their franchise operation.
Xpresso Delight is a producer and seller of premium coffee and coffee machines targeting the corporate world.
It seems like Xpresso Delight is on a mission to change the coffee culture in the offices.
Their marketing aggressively challenges the normal practice in the offices to leave your work
to get a good cup of coffee, only because the coffee machines do not provide fresh coffee like the one made by a barista.
Sighting research shows how leaving offices for coffee is affecting productivity and business – billions of dollars apparently – the Xpresso Delight promises not just barista-standard coffee, but regular (weekly) sales and service as well.
Their service delivery is fast and promises a same-day replacement guarantee if your coffee machine ever stops working.
With easy-to-use machines, Xpress Delight is winning-over offices through its top-quality services.
The company’s website offers valuable information with a complete breakdown of the franchise-owning process.
(Sources: VendingMarketWatch, Official Website)
Number of Franchises | 250+ |
Headquarters | Gold Coast, Queensland |
Founded in | 1981 |
Franchise Cost | $295,000. $340,000 |
A multinational brand of Australian Origin, Donut King is a doughnut company and quick service restaurant.
Despite being a doughnut-first brand, Donut King serves premium coffee to its customers.
They serve barista-made DK Coffee Blend. Cinnamon doughnuts served with coffee are one of their most popular items.
Founded in 1981 in Sydney, the coffee shop franchise is owned by Retail Food Group Limited.
Retail Food Group is a Gold-Coast-based business that also manages other coffee shops including Gloria Jean’s Coffee and Michel’s Patisserie among others.
The company openly welcomes new franchisees by offering them $10,000 in free coffee support.
The company has stores across Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Saudi Arabia, Papua New Guinea, China, and the UK.
(Sources: Official Website, Wikipedia)
Number of Franchises | 100 |
Headquarters | Southport, Queensland |
Founded in | 2000 |
Franchise Cost | $125,000 plus GST |
The next brand on the list is a mobile coffee shop franchise which serves high-quality espresso coffee and food items at non-traditional locations.
The concept first originated on the beaches of Sydney, Australia, in 2000.
However, the first proof of concept was launched in Leeds, UK. The coffee shop returned to
its home in 2005 by launching 12 franchises.
Not to be taken lightly for being a coffee on the wheels cafe, Cafe2U has been named “Australia’s Best Value Franchise System” by the Financial Review Smart Magazine in 2009.
Subsequently, in 2010, the brand’s exclusive coffee blend won a medal in the prestigious Golden Bean Awards.
Currently, the company is 100% Australian-owned.
Cafe2U presents a lucrative business opportunity that demands no prior business experience for its franchise owners and offers a low-cost setup.(Sources: Cafe2U)
Number of Franchises | 101 |
Headquarters | New South Wales, Australia |
Founded in | 1992 |
Franchise Cost | $200,000 – $265,000 |
Founded in 1964, Jamaica Blues is an Australian and New Zealand coffee shop chain owned by the Foodco Group.
It is a sister company of Muffin Break, owned by the same brand.
The restaurant is named after the Jamaica Blue Mountains, regarded as the home of the best coffee in the world. (Source: Restaurant’s Official Website)
The cafe was launched in 1992 in Miranda, Australia, and is mostly located in residential areas, malls, airports, and hospitals.
With coffee being its signature item, the restaurant also serves a wide variety of drinks, sandwiches, breakfast items, and full meals.
The restaurant claims to serve only fresh and locally sourced ingredients while carefully perfecting the procurement process, roasting, and preparing the best coffee possible.
The cafe promises world-class training for its franchisees at the launch and throughout their business operation.
Number of Franchises | 28 |
Headquarters | Victoria, Australia |
Founded in | 2000 |
Franchise Cost | $110,000 – $250,000 |
Cibo Espresso is an Italian-style cafe and coffee shop franchise that was founded in 2000 in Adelaide, South Australia.
The cafe delivers traditional Italian food made with local ingredients in an Italian environment.
The restaurant’s website narrates a compelling story of its four co-founders, each having different culinary expertise.
The four founders included an Italian chef, an artisan pasticciere, a restaurant manager, and a “handsome barista”.
The cafe promises the ambiance of a truly authentic Italian experience in their cafes.
The cafe has more than 28 franchises in South Australia only but it has recently shown plans to further expand in other states too. (Source: Wikipedia)
Cafe’s official website provides comprehensive information to investors looking for a ready-to-run franchise opportunity.
With this, one of the sumptuous lists on our blog comes to an end.
Do check out our other blogs on other top franchises in Australia.
