We are cozying up to Mr. Coffee.
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Trying to save money in these lean times, more of us are brewing our java at home.
Starbucks, the premium coffee shop chain, is feeling the effects, reporting a 77 percent drop in quarterly profits this spring.
Oh, people are still buying Starbucks. But they're picking up bags of their coffee in local supermarkets and making it themselves in their own kitchens.
"Some of our hottest bagged coffee brands include Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts," says Tracy Pawelski, spokeswoman for Giant Food Stores, which has nine stores in Lancaster County.
Local Starbucks chains declined to comment on the effects on their business here, referring all calls to their corporate office. But locally owned coffee shops report that their customers are remaining loyal, even though they might be changing their habits a bit.
"People are mentioning that though they're cutting back, they still like their coffee," says Sara Kauffman, owner of the New Holland Coffee Company. "That's a way to treat themselves."
Some are treating themselves at home.
Giant has seen a 15 percent increase in premium coffee sales at the supermarket chain, Pawelski says.
Weis Markets, which has 14 stores here, also has seen an uptick in coffee sales, spokesman Dennis Curtin says.
"With the way the economy is going, it's not unusual to see customers staying home and preparing meals and that extends to coffee," he says.
Stauffers of Kissel Hill also has noticed the trend at its three stores here. Its customers are even buying flavored syrups, used in coffee shops, to enhance their home-brewed java, according to Warren Crills, grocery buyer.
The other trend at Stauffers and Weis is increasing sales of "K-cups," small, plastic single-cup coffee pods that are dropped into machines that brew one cup at a time.
A National Coffee Association poll from earlier this year showed that, among people who said they had drunk coffee the previous day, 83 percent made it at home, up 5 percent from the previous year.
In another recent poll, 20 percent of those surveyed said they visited coffee chains less frequently, according to Booz & Company, a management consulting firm.
Local coffee shops say they are holding their own due to expanding their business and loyal customers.
The Brew House & Bistro in Ephrata does catering, which helps to bolster the business, said owner Mary Alice Haws.
She said customers are cutting back, but not going away completely.
"Instead of having a latte every day, they'll say I'll only have two this week," she says.
The Coffee Company in the Lancaster Shopping Center sells coffee, of course, but also offers a full menu and entertainment in the evenings, which attracts customers, says office manager Sadie Crills (who happens to be Warren Crills' sister-in-law).
"We might have seen certain days here and there," Crills says of the effects of the downturn, "but overall we've been quite surprised and satisfied and are thankful for the business we do have."
Staff writer Cindy Stauffer can be reached at cstauffer@LNPnews.com or 481-6024.
