Coffee Shops & Snack Bars NAICS 722515

May 14, 2025 - Off-Premises Sales Growth

• According to the National Restaurant Association’s 2025 Off-Premises Restaurant Trends report nearly 75% of all restaurant traffic now occurs off-premises through takeout, delivery, or drive-thru. “Off-premises dining has become a key revenue driver and an essential way to engage consumers,” said the NRA’s chief economist Dr. Chad Moutray, adding “It now accounts for a larger share of sales for 58% of limited-service operators compared with 2019.” Nearly two-thirds (65%) of limited-service operators now offer delivery, with many expecting curbside and dedicated takeout areas to become even more common this year. Nearly half (47%) of adults surveyed say they pick up takeout from restaurants, coffee shops, snack places or delis at least once a week, while 42% report using the drive-thru on a weekly basis.
• Restaurants added a net 16,600 jobs in April, according to preliminary data from US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The job gains came despite rising uncertainty that have kept consumers from visiting restaurants as frequently. (In April, industry bellwether McDonald’s reported a 3.6% year-over-year decline in first quarter same-store sales, citing reduced spending by low-income consumers.) April marked the second straight month for restaurant job gains, following about 30,000 new jobs added in March, and a rebound from a job loss of 28,300 in February and 27,000 in January — the weakest two-month period for the industry in more than four years, according to the National Restaurant Association. The limited-service segment continues to post the strongest job growth, led by coffee and snack concepts, which are up more than 20% versus March 2020.

• President Trump’s tariff blitz threatens to raise the price of coffee drinks, CBS News reports. Currently, there is a 10% base global tariff in place on all US coffee imports. Countries including India, Indonesia, Vietnam and other coffee-producing nations are subject to even higher levies, which the administration has paused for 90 days. A mere 1% of the coffee consumed in the US is sourced domestically, mostly from Hawaii and Puerto Rico, according to the National Coffee Association. The rest – 99% of raw coffee beans – is imported. Coffee bean prices were already soaring due to unfavorable weather in key producing countries, including Brazil and Colombia, before tariffs threatened to raise prices even more. The duties, called "reciprocal tariffs," are making it more expensive for coffee shops to import beans and absorb other costs of doing business, with some shops already passing their elevated costs on to customers.
• For the first time in its history, the price of coffee futures on the commodities market topped $4 per pound in February, according to Business Insider. Year-to-date, coffee futures prices are up almost 35% and have more than doubled from the same time last year. Climate change, dwindling global stockpiles, and President Trump’s threat to impose a 25% tariff on all goods from Colombia, including coffee, are driving up coffee prices. Although the tariff threat to Columbia was ultimately removed, Trump’s threats of sweeping tariffs and the possibility of a resultant trade war have added instability to commodity markets, including the coffee market. Volatile prices for coffee beans can affect coffee shops’ gross margins and shops must regularly monitor their cost of goods sold and adjust prices to maintain or improve their margins. But that can be hard to do amid growing competition among coffee shops.