Hospitality accounted for 36 per cent of all reports.
Camera IconHospitality accounted for 36 per cent of all reports. Credit: Supplied/Getty Images

Coffee price drops across Australia

AAPWestern Suburbs Weekly

AUSTRALIA’S love of a good coffee is well known and drink lovers will be delighted to know they paid less for the beverage in 2019.

A report compiled by payment platform Square looked at millions of card transactions at cafes across the country to unearth information on our daily consumption.

The national average price for a latte this year was $3.96, compared to $4.18 in 2018, it found.

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Flat whites and cappuccinos both cost $3.99, down a few cents from $4.13 and $4.14, respectively, the year before.

Chai lattes are still the most expensive option at an average $4.16, but that’s still cheaper than the $4.57 paid in 2018.

Despite the overall drop in prices nationally, the average price of a cup of coffee in 2019 went up in the Northern Territory.

NT coffee drinkers spent on average $1 more per beverage than those in the ACT and NSW, and about 60 cents more compared to the other states.

And while Australians paid less for their coffee this year, they spent more on in making their habit more sustainable.

Square found a big jump in the use of reusable, bring-your-own coffee cups.

“From the huge spike in BYO cups to more people choosing non-dairy milk alternatives that have a smaller environmental footprint, the way we are consuming food and drink has changed significantly over recent years,” Square Australia’s Colin Birney said in a statement on Friday.

The trend to sustainability was also linked to a rise in the use of non-dairy alternatives for milk, such as soy milk which is still number one.

But the popularity of almond milk is soaring after rising 149 per cent this year.

The most popular coffee style in Australia this year was the latte (27 per cent), followed by the flat white (25 per cent) and the cappuccino (20 per cent). The least popular was the piccolo (two per cent).

Latte is the favourite coffee drink in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia. Flat whites lead the way in Western Australia, NT, Queensland and ACT. In NSW, cappuccinos are the go-to.

Only one in three Australians paid for their coffee using cash, Square found.

Australia’s retail coffee market is worth about $8 billion a year.