Coffee Preferences by City in Europe: 35 UK, France, Germany Cities

Direct answer: A 2026 De’Longhi survey mapped go-to coffee orders across 35 cities in the UK, France and Germany and found that cities inside one country can differ sharply. Glasgow’s caffè latte reaches 33.3%, Stuttgart’s cappuccino 30.6%, and Dijon breaks from France’s hot-coffee habit with iced coffee and filter tied at 11.1%. For a roaster or origin brand, the lesson is that a country-level profile is a hypothesis, and city-level variation should shape which formats get tested first in any market entry plan.

How the index was built

The Signature Order Index draws on 3,001 adults aged 18+ across the UK (1,000), France (1,001) and Germany (1,000), with 2,801 coffee drinkers. It covers 35 cities: 12 in the UK, 14 in France and 9 in Germany. Fieldwork was carried out by Greenpark on 24–29 June 2026.

Scores are the share of local coffee drinkers naming an order as their go-to. For the UK and Germany, every recorded coffee type was eligible to top a city’s list, with ties reported as they were. France is ranked differently: espresso is excluded from city rankings because of its runaway national lead (31.9%), so each French city shows its second go-to instead. The sponsor also selected featured cafés for their local reputation, which is a curation choice rather than a measurement.

What the standout cities show

United Kingdom

• Glasgow: caffè latte 33.3%, the highest score of any order in any city in the study.
• Cardiff: caffè latte 28.6%; the only city where lifestyle identity (25.0%) beats daily comfort (22.2%).
• Bristol: cappuccino 24.2%, the UK’s highest.
• Leeds: cappuccino 21.1%, with the UK’s highest social-activity score (19.6%).
• Liverpool: cappuccino and Americano tied at 18.8%.
• Sheffield: latte, cappuccino and flat white tied at 17.4%.

Germany

• Stuttgart: cappuccino 30.6%, with café crème second at 15.3%.
• Frankfurt: latte 18.3%, with cappuccino and café crème tied at 17.6%.

France (espresso set aside)

• Lille: filter coffee 15.2%.
• Strasbourg: café con leche 12.5%, with espresso at 25.0%.
• Lyon: cappuccino 11.4%, with espresso at 38.6%.
• Dijon: iced coffee and filter tied at 11.1%, and 25.0% say they do not drink coffee.

Three lessons for roasters and origin brands

1. National averages hide local formats. Germany’s national top order is cappuccino, but Frankfurt is split three ways. France is espresso-led nationally, yet Lille leans filter and Dijon leans iced. A plan built on one national format can miss the city where the brand actually launches.

2. Format mix matters more than a single “top order”. Where results are tied, as in Sheffield and Liverpool, more than one format deserves equal attention in sample testing.

3. Ritual and identity vary by city. Munich has the study’s highest daily-comfort score (54.3%), Leeds has the UK’s strongest social score, and Cardiff’s coffee identity is more lifestyle than habit. Different attitudes suggest different priorities, such as repeatability in ritual cities and shareable formats in social ones. This is an inference, not a survey finding.

How to use city data in a market-entry plan

For a brand working through city or country partners, city data can help with three practical decisions:

1. Which formats to sample first for a launch city. Start from the city’s top two or three orders rather than the national leader alone.
2. How to brief a local partner. Ask which formats the partner’s customers actually order, and compare that with the survey pattern. The sponsor’s data is a starting point for the conversation.
3. Where more research is needed. If a city shows a tie or an unusual result, such as Dijon’s iced coffee, ask for local evidence before building a plan around it.

The roast-development side of this is covered in roast profile by market, and the writing side in roast profile brief.

A worked example

This is an illustration of the method, not a plan for a real launch. Suppose a brand is choosing between two German cities for a first tasting programme. Stuttgart’s cappuccino score of 30.6% is far ahead of café crème at 15.3%, so a first round of samples would put cappuccino first and test one long-style format second. Frankfurt is split almost evenly between caffè latte (18.3%) and cappuccino and café crème (17.6% each), so the same brand would give three formats similar weight. The coffee is identical in both cities. What differs is the order of the tests and the recipes prepared for the local partner.

Limits of the data

• City results rest on small local samples. The retrieved copy does not publish per-city sample sizes. If the 3,001 respondents were spread evenly over 35 cities, that would be under 100 per city, but this is an arithmetic estimate and not a published figure.
• French city rankings exclude espresso by design, so French and British city scores are not directly comparable.
• The survey measures go-to orders, not sales volume.
• The survey is sponsored by a coffee-machine maker and is framed around home recreation.

Faq

Which European city has the strongest single-order preference in this survey? Glasgow, where 33.3% name caffè latte as their go-to.

Are these results the same as café sales data? No. They are survey responses about go-to orders.

Should a roaster build a profile for each city? Not necessarily. Use city data to choose which formats to test first, then decide how many profiles are justified by the results.

Why are French cities shown without espresso? The sponsor left espresso out of the French city ranking because of its runaway national lead, so each city shows its second go-to instead.

Where to go next

• Country views: French coffee market, UK coffee market and German coffee market.
• Category background: Fine Robusta from Cambodia.
• Service path: the Roasting Program covers roast profile development for a defined market and application.

Sources & Data Notes

• De’Longhi, “The Signature Order” field guide, https://www.delonghi.com/en-gb/brewed-by-place. Fieldwork by Greenpark, 24–29 June 2026; 3,001 adults aged 18+ (2,801 coffee drinkers); 35 cities. Accessed 2026-09-30.
• De’Longhi press release, PR Newswire UK, September 2026, https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/new-delonghi-study-reveals-europes-signature-order-coffee-culture-across-35-cities-302883544.html. Accessed 2026-09-30.
• Unit and scope: percentages are the share of local respondents naming an order as their go-to, or choosing a relationship category, as published by the sponsor. Ties are reported as recorded.
• Market-entry suggestions and the worked example are OCC’s practitioner framework, not survey findings.

Last verified: 2026-09-30.