French Coffee Market 2026: Espresso Share, Café Allongé & Roast Tests

Direct answer: In the 2026 De’Longhi Signature Order survey, France is the most espresso-centred of the three markets studied. 31.9% of French respondents name espresso as their go-to order, more than 2.5 times the next order, café allongé at 11.8%. For a roaster or origin brand, that makes short-espresso performance the first test, followed by lengthened and milk formats. The survey does not show how much Robusta or Fine Robusta French drinkers buy, and no such claim is made here.

The national picture

France’s top five orders were espresso 31.9%, café allongé 11.8%, cappuccino 10.6%, café con leche 6.6% and café noisette 5.4%. Café allongé is a lengthened espresso-style order. The sponsor describes café noisette as an espresso “stained” with a dash of hot milk, and café con leche as a Spanish-style milk coffee.

On people’s relationship with coffee, French respondents split as follows: daily comfort 38%, identity 24.9%, hobby 10.5%, functional 9.1%, social 4.2% and “don’t drink” 12.3%. Quality was the top reason to recreate an order at home for 36.6% of French respondents, the highest of the three markets.

What the ritual data adds

France has the highest identity share (24.9%) and the highest hobby share (10.5%) of the three markets, and the lowest social share (4.2%). Read together, these numbers describe coffee as a personal habit more than a group activity. That is an interpretation rather than a survey finding, but it has a practical consequence: an individual drinker with firm personal preferences is likely to notice small differences in the cup, so repeatability and clear recipes matter more than a broad festive story.

Espresso-led does not mean espresso-only

The sponsor ranks French cities differently from British and German ones. It leaves espresso out of the city pins because of its national lead and shows each city’s second go-to instead. With espresso set aside:

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

A French plan built only on espresso would miss this regional variation. See coffee preferences by city in Europe for how to read it.

What to test first

1. Short espresso. Check balance, body and consistency across several dial-ins and machines, and record the recipe used. OCC’s 100% Fine Robusta espresso guide covers the application-specific questions.
2. Lengthened orders. Café allongé gives the coffee more water. Test whether the cup stays balanced as volume increases.
3. Milk formats. Cappuccino (10.6%) and café con leche (6.6%) ask whether the coffee remains recognisable in milk. See Fine Robusta milk drinks.
4. Filter and iced. These matter in regional pockets such as Lille and Dijon rather than nationally.

Fine Robusta is not automatically suited to any of these formats. Each lot has to be tested, and the result should be recorded per format.

How a French sample cycle could be structured

This is a practitioner outline, not a survey finding.

• Round 1: short espresso. Evaluate on at least two equipment types if the market uses both, such as a manual espresso machine and a bean-to-cup machine. Record dose, yield, time and the sensory result for each attempt.
• Round 2: lengthened and milk formats. Repeat with café allongé, cappuccino and café con leche using the recipe that passed in Round 1, then adjust one variable at a time.
• Round 3: regional formats. If a launch city is known, add its local format, such as filter for Lille.
• Documentation. Keep a recipe card for each format and a roast log for each sample, so that an approved result can be repeated.

See roast profile brief for the fields to write down before the first round.

Why an origin brand should care

France also reports the strongest belief that coffee culture defines a city’s atmosphere and identity (11.0% say it strongly does). Combined with the highest quality motivation, that points to an audience that may be receptive to specific origin stories. “May be” is the limit of what the data supports. The practical takeaway is evidence-first storytelling: a named region, a documented process and a tasting result, rather than adjectives.

Limits of the data

• The survey is sponsored by a coffee-machine maker and is framed around home recreation.
• It measures go-to orders, not sales volume, café menu share or roast preference.
• It does not measure Robusta content in French espresso blends.
• City figures come from small local samples.

Faq

What is the most popular coffee order in France in this survey? Espresso, at 31.9% of respondents.

Does espresso dominance mean French buyers prefer a particular roast level? The survey does not measure roast preference, so it cannot answer that.

Should a Cambodian origin brand plan a separate French roast? Test first. Use the market’s formats to design samples, as described in roast profile by market.

Is France a milk-coffee market? Not mainly. Cappuccino ranks third at 10.6% and café con leche fourth at 6.6%, well behind espresso.

Is iced coffee important in France? Nationally it does not appear in the top five, but it ties with filter in Dijon, so it matters as a regional format.

Where to go next

• Category background: Fine Robusta from Cambodia.
• Application: 100% Fine Robusta espresso.
• 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; France sample 1,001 adults aged 18+; 14 French 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 respondents naming an order as their go-to, or choosing a relationship category, as published by the sponsor. The French city ranking excludes espresso by design.
• The sample-testing suggestions and the ritual interpretation are OCC’s practitioner framework, not survey findings.

Last verified: 2026-09-30.