Takeaway Coffee: The Interplay Between Convenience and Sustainability

This study explored coffee drinkers’ value perception of takeaway coffee and what drives consumption. The purpose was to investigate how consumer sustainability attitudes and practices transfer to takeaway coffee consumption. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with an international sample of coffee drinkers. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data. Prominent themes were mapped onto (Holbrook (ed) Consumer Value: A Framework for Analysis and Research, Routledge, London, 1999) typology of consumer value. Takeaway coffee was found to be dominated by self-oriented values, with taste and convenience as supreme elements that drive consumption. Other-oriented value elements such as sustainability received low priority in purchase decisions. In the interplay between convenience and sustainability, convenience was found to have the upper hand. This is the first study to explore consumer perceived value of takeaway coffee. The findings are of value to policy makers and coffee brands in terms of empowering coffee drinkers to enjoy takeaway coffee sustainably.