Ted’s Coffee CEO Vasi Andreica

Romania is among Europe’s fastest growing branded coffee shop markets, with World Coffee Portal forecasting the total market will grow 20% to exceed 1,000 stores in 2024. Largely focused on convenience and value, Romanian coffee shops were hit with a 10% VAT hike last year – a fresh challenge compounding already high energy and raw material costs following the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 
 

Founded in 2013, Ted’s Coffee has grown to 50 outlets across Romania – 70% of which are in the capital city Bucharest. With a store footprint comprising high street, office building and shopping centre locations, the brand launched its smaller-format Ted’s On-The-Go concept last year as part of plans to reach 100 stores by 2026. 

Having kickstarted 2024 in expansion mode, Ted’s Coffee CEO Vasi Andreica says the business is geared up for a bright future. 

What are some consumer trends driving Romania’s coffee shop market today?
 

Romanian people have always enjoyed a good cup of coffee. However, the development of coffee chains has accelerated out-of-home coffee consumption – especially among younger consumers who primarily drink coffee away from home.

Romania also has a growing specialty coffee shop market which teaches consumers more about high-quality coffee. These elements have helped the coffee shop market achieve better results than other parts of our economy. 
 

How are current trading conditions in Romania? 

The last few years have been like a rollercoaster for hospitality businesses – with Covid-19, the energy crisis, the war in Ukraine and rising raw material costs to name a few. Last year, VAT in Romania increased from 9% to 19% and put a lot of pressure on our business plans, forcing us to make quick decisions to minimise disruption.  
 

The situation now seems to have stabilised and we don’t expect further turbulence in the near future. Inflation is falling, the supply chain is as predictable as it can be, and we hope this will last.

70% of Ted’s Coffee’s stores are in Bucharest | Photo credit: Ted’s Coffee

How does Ted's Coffee stand out in the Bucharest’s increasingly competitive coffee shop market?

A focus on store design and high-quality ingredients is our best marketing tool – we only use high-grade Caffè Speciali Certificati coffee but know that we must also have different standards to hold ourselves against. A lot of coffee shops offer high-quality coffee and so we stand out by having greater aspirations regarding customer satisfaction. Themes like reuse and recycle, reusable cups, biodegradable lids, recycled pet cups, ethical farming and CSR programmes – these are not just marketing words for us.   
 

From the outset we have not tried to become the largest coffee chain in Romania in terms of locations. Our goal is to become the number one brand for guest satisfaction and product quality. We believe that success is represented by the frequency of returning guests. 

Ted’s Coffee has had a busy start to 2024, opening six new sites in January. What is in store for the rest of the year? 

Ted’s Coffee had a very successful 2023 – serving nearly two million customers and scaling our app loyalty scheme to 22,000 registered members. 
 

In January we opened six new stores, and we have another six under construction which will open in the next two months. We estimate that we will exceed 60 outlets this year, with turnover in the region of €11m. The future is positive for Ted’s Coffee.