British consumers bought 1.2m coffee machines last year, helping to double the market's value since 2001 to £50m, figures from market research group Mintel show. The news adds more evidence that a new generation of coffee machines is tapping consumer demand for better quality coffee in the home. "Many Brits are now accustomed to coffee shop quality coffee and are simply looking to recreate this in the comfort of their own home," said Julian Sloan, senior market analyst at Mintel. It remained unclear how far coffee outlets such as Starbucks might be hit by the trend, which they helped to spawn. For the moment, it is instant coffee that is suffering, according to Mintel. It said instant sales had almost stood still, only growing four per cent in the last five years. Sloan said coffee had become a lifestyle statement among "young urbanites", and added that new product development had enabled coffee firms to catch up with the trend. New pod-style coffee machines, such as Nestlé's Nespresso system, were easier to use and faster than traditional espresso machines, he said. Sales of pod machines jumped by around 260 per cent between 2002 and 2006, reaching 470,000 units last year. That means sales of pod machines are now ahead of both traditional espresso units and also filter coffee systems, although the market for both of these grew 30 and 65 per cent during the same period.
