Changes in the coffee culture - opportunities for multinationals coffee shops?

Abstract: The Swedish coffee culture is changing and bringing new business opportunities for multinational coffee shops. Our purpose with this dissertation was to describe the Swedish coffee culture and its changes. We wanted to increase our knowledge about how these changes can make Sweden a more attractive country for coffee shops, like Starbucks, wanting to establish in Sweden. We choose to use a qualitative method with an abductive approach. To gather the primary data we interviewed one barista and sent questionnaires to staff at different big coffee shops in Sweden. The interview questions were made out of five categories of describing culture by Rugman and Hodgetts. These answers and a multiple of articles helped us to describe the coffee culture and the changes. In the conclusion several benefits for coffee shops were identified from the cultural changes. Among the benefits we could see more knowledgeable and demanding customers. We could also distinguish a market with competing coffee shops and supporting industries well adapted to provide material needed to make the coffee. The benefits that the changes in the coffee culture bring are multiple and we see a coffee culture highly adapted to the new trend. This dissertation can be useful for foreign coffee shops to gain knowledge about the Swedish coffee market and its culture. New markets are opening through cultural changes, so marketers and others searching for new marketing opportunities on the Swedish coffee market should read this paper to get ideas, advices and inspiration.