The State of Australian Specialty Coffee 2025

Why Australia's coffee market matters

Australia has one of the most sophisticated coffee cultures in the world. The flat white, the Melbourne-Sydney espresso rivalry, and a generation of third-wave roasters have all shaped how specialty coffee is consumed globally. But the domestic market is also a commercial heavyweight — combining café, retail and foodservice channels, Australians now spend well over AUD $18 billion a year on coffee.

This report pulls together the most recent public data from IBISWorld, Statista, Mordor Intelligence, and local industry trackers to map where the specialty segment sits in 2025 — and where it's heading.

Market at a glance (2025)

Where Australians spend on coffee

Out-of-home consumption still dominates the dollar figures, but at-home brewing is growing at pace as home espresso and pour-over equipment become mainstream.

Source: Statista Coffee Outlook – Australia, 2025.

Specialty is outpacing conventional

Conventional coffee still holds the lion's share of revenue, but the specialty segment — broadly defined as coffee scoring 80+ on the SCA cupping scale — is the growth engine. It compounds at more than double the rate of the conventional segment.

Source: Mordor Intelligence — Australia Coffee Market Trends, 2025.

The café landscape

Australia has more than 14,600 café and coffee shop businesses operating nationwide (2026 data), growing at around 5.1% annually over the prior five years. Melbourne remains the undisputed coffee capital, with Sydney and Brisbane not far behind.

Coffee Shops as a standalone segment is on track to reach AUD $7.1 billion in revenue by the end of 2025–26, after annualised 5.0% growth over five years. Growth has moderated to roughly 1.3% in 2025–26 as cost-of-living pressures tempered visit frequency — but the specialty end of the market has held up better than the commodity end.

The home brewing revolution

Post-pandemic, the home coffee setup has become a permanent fixture. Hover or tap each tile for the numbers behind the trend.

Milk alternatives go mainstream

Plant-based milk is no longer a niche request. In major-city specialty cafés, more than one in three coffees now leaves the bar with something other than dairy.