More than three out of four adult Americans say that they drink coffee either daily or regularly, according to the National Coffee Association, and convenience stores are one of the preferred destinations for coffee drinkers. Consumers stop to buy coffee more than they fill up their cars, providing convenience stores with a great opportunity to build loyalty and repeat sales.

Convenience stores are a preferred destination for coffee.

• Roughly one of of every five (18.3 percent) cups of coffee purchased by consumers in 2005 was bought at a convenience store (Source: Samuel Nahmias of StudyLogic). 
• Convenience stores sold more than $5.7 billion in coffee in 2006. That works out to, on average, coffee sales of over $40,000 per store (Source: NACS 2007 State of the Industry report).
• Ninety percent of convenience store customers purchase coffee at a convenience store over any other retail format (Source: The Learning Exchange, Willard Bishop Consulting).
• When they are on the go, Americans purchase coffee at convenience stores/gas stations more than anywhere else. Thirty nine percent of customers purchase coffee at convenience stores, compared to 38 percent at local coffee shops/restaurants and 35 percent who bring coffee from home (Source: National omnibus survey, Sept.-Oct. 2004, conducted for ExxonMobil).
• More than 95 percent of all convenience stores sell hot dispensed beverages, a category that includes coffee. While sales of hot dispensed beverages (including coffee) are only 3.8 percent of total in-store sales at a convenience store, it accounts for 7.3 percent of a store's in store gross profit (Source: NACS 2007 State of the Industry report).
• More than two thirds of customers buying coffee at a convenience store buy it at a convenience store four or more times a week (Source: The Learning Exchange, Willard Bishop Consulting).
• The percentage of coffee buyers who know they were going to purchase coffee when they entered a convenience store is 96 percent; making coffee the top planned purchase in a convenience store. This means that coffee is not an impulse item, although one-third of purchasers did not know what size coffee they would purchase before entering the store (Source: The Learning Exchange, Willard Bishop Consulting).
• Three quarters (75 percent) of all coffee sales in convenience stores occur between 5:00 to 8:00 a.m. (Source: David Bishop, Willard Bishop Consulting).
• For coffee drinkers who consume coffee outside of their homes, conveninece stores are a popular destination, with 13 percent of coffee drinkers purchasing their coffee at a conveninece store. Work was the most popular source (31 percent), followed by restaurants and supermarkets/grocery stores, which were each responsible for 17 percent of purchases (Source: National Coffee Association of U.S.A.).
• The number-one item purchased with coffee in a convenience store: packaged sweet snacks, which include donuts, snack cakes, muffins, and pastries. Nearly one in five (19.7 percent) of coffee purchases also included a sweet snack purchase (Source: The Learning Exchange, Willard Bishop Consulting).

Coffee is one of America's favorite beverages.

• Among all beverages consumed in the United States on a daily basis, coffee ranks third in consumption, with 51 percent of adults saying they drank coffee daily. Seventy-nine percent of adults said that they drank water (bottled and tap) daily, while 58 percent said they drank soft drinks every day (Source: National Coffee Association of U.S.A.).
• Overall, more than 108 million people in the U.S. are daily coffee drinkers, and more than 166 million have consumed coffee in the past year (Source: National Coffee Association of U.S.A.).
• The U.S. per capita consumption of coffee is estimated to be 424 servings, which includes in-home and out-of-home roast and ground, instant, and ready-to-drink (bottled/canned) coffee (Source: Nestle S.A.).
• Quickservice restaurant operators identify coffee as one of the top items for future growth. Half of operators (50 percent) with 10 or more units say that expresso/specialty coffee is projected to gain in popularity (Source: National Restaurant Association).
• More than one third of all coffee consumed at work (35 percent) is brought in from outside the office (Source: Specialty Coffee Association of America). This had led to some stores offering larger bulk "to-go" containers of 64 oz. or even 96 oz.
• Nearly one quarter (24 percent) of traditional coffee drinkers drink from an 8-oz. cup or larger (Source: Specialty Coffee Association of America).
• One in ten (10 percent) 17- and 18-year-olds rate coffee as their top beverage of choice; 3 percent of 15- and 16-year-olds rank coffee as their top beverage choice (Source: Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. survey).
• More daily coffee drinkers consume regular coffee (41 percent) than any other type. Twelve percent drink specialty coffee, 8 percent drink decaf and 7 percent drink instant coffee (Source: The Quarterly Grind, Oct. 2003).
• Daily gourmet coffee drinkers, who comprise 12 percent of the population, have a high average annual income -- $68,400 -- and regularly purchase gourmet coffee outside of home. Supermarkets/grocery stores were the preferred destination for gourmet coffee purchases (36 percent), followed by specialty coffee shops (26 percent), with 18 percent preferring convenience stores (Source: National Coffee Association of U.S.A.).
• The most commonly purchased item to go with coffee is a bagel, muffin, doughnut or pastry (40 percent). Other popular purchases include breakfast sandwich (18 percent), newspaper (13 percent) and cigarettes (10 percent). One in three coffee customers (36 percent) purchased nothing (Source: National omnibus survey, Sept.-Oct. 2004, conducted for ExxonMobil).