UK Coffee Market 2026: Latte, Flat White & Iced Coffee Share by City

Direct answer: In the 2026 De’Longhi Signature Order survey, the UK is the most milk-led of the three markets studied. Caffè latte leads at 19.7%, followed closely by cappuccino at 17.0%, then Americano (9.7%), flat white (9.4%) and iced coffee (8.6%). For a roaster or origin brand, milk-drink performance is the first thing to test, followed by black and iced formats. The survey says nothing about Robusta or Cambodian coffee, and no such claim is made here.

The national picture

The UK’s top orders were caffè latte 19.7%, cappuccino 17.0%, Americano 9.7%, flat white 9.4% and iced coffee 8.6%. The sponsor notes that the gap between first and second place is the tightest of the three national races.

On people’s relationship with coffee, UK respondents reported daily comfort 32%, identity 15.4%, social 12.0%, functional 11.3%, hobby 7.8% and “don’t drink” 19.9%. That non-drinker share is the highest of the three markets, against 12.3% in France and 8.8% in Germany. Social association is also the highest of the three: more than double France’s 4.2%.

Quality was the top reason to recreate an order at home in the UK too, but at 21.8% it is the lowest quality-motivation score of the three markets. The UK also has the highest share of people who often or sometimes relive travel experiences at home (41.6%).

What the ritual data adds

The UK combines the highest social share with the lowest quality motivation and the highest non-drinker share. Read together, these numbers describe a market where coffee is more often a shared occasion than a personal project, and where fewer people are motivated by quality alone. That is an interpretation, not a survey finding. For a brand it suggests two things: drinks that work well in shared, milk-based orders matter, and quality evidence should be made easy to understand rather than technical.

The UK is not uniform

The 12 UK cities in the study show different centres of gravity:

• Glasgow: caffè latte at 33.3%, the highest score of any order in any city in the whole study.
• Cardiff: caffè latte at 28.6%, the UK’s highest latte city. Cardiff is also the only city in the study where “part of my lifestyle” (25.0%) beats daily comfort (22.2%).
• Bristol: cappuccino at 24.2%, the UK’s highest cappuccino score.
• Leeds: cappuccino at 21.1%, with the UK’s highest “social activity” score (19.6%).
• Liverpool: cappuccino and Americano tie at 18.8%, and 44.7% call coffee a daily comfort.
• Sheffield: latte, cappuccino and flat white tie at 17.4%, with the strongest flat white score in the UK.

See coffee preferences by city in Europe for how to read city-level results with care.

What to test first

1. Latte and flat white. These ask different things of the same coffee. A latte adds more milk, while a flat white uses a thinner layer of microfoam. Evaluate both, and record the espresso recipe used.
2. Cappuccino. Second nationally and first in Bristol and Leeds.
3. Americano. At 9.7% it is the leading black-coffee format, so test the coffee diluted with hot water.
4. Iced. At 8.6%, a smaller format that still needs its own evaluation.

OCC’s Fine Robusta milk drinks page covers the milk-drink application, and Fine Robusta premium by use explains why the same lot can be valued differently across espresso, milk and single-origin formats. Any specific lot still needs to be tested in each.

How a UK sample cycle could be structured

This is a practitioner outline, not a survey finding.

• Round 1: milk formats. Evaluate the coffee as a latte, a flat white and a cappuccino. Record the espresso recipe, milk type, milk volume and cup size, because each of these changes the result.
• Round 2: black and iced. Evaluate an Americano and an iced format using the recipe that passed in Round 1, and adjust one variable at a time.
• Round 3: city check. If a launch city is known, compare its leading order with the national pattern. A Glasgow launch and a Sheffield launch would not start from the same priority.
• Documentation. Keep a recipe card for each format and a roast log for each sample.

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

Why an origin brand should care

A milk-first market changes the story a brand can tell. Buyers in the UK sample are less likely to drink coffee black, so a tasting story that only works in a small filter cup may not connect with most orders. A more useful position is to show that the coffee has been evaluated in milk and in black. For the UK specialty roaster conversation about Robusta, see why specialty roasters reconsider Robusta, which treats community discussion as supporting evidence rather than proof of market size.

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 or café menu share.
• The retrieved copy does not say whether order shares are calculated among all respondents or only among coffee drinkers.
• It does not measure Robusta content, roast level or origin preference.

Faq

What is the most popular coffee order in the UK in this survey? Caffè latte, at 19.7%.

Is flat white a major UK order? It ranks fourth nationally at 9.4% and leads strongly in Sheffield, but it is not the national leader.

Does a milk-led market mean a darker roast? The survey does not measure roast preference, so it cannot answer that. Test the coffee in milk rather than assuming.

How important is iced coffee in the UK? It ranks fifth at 8.6%, so it is a smaller but real format that deserves its own test.

Do UK drinkers care about coffee quality? Quality is still the top reason to recreate an order at home (21.8%), although it is the lowest of the three markets.

Where to go next

• Framework: roast profile by 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; UK sample 1,000 adults aged 18+; 12 UK 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 sample-testing suggestions and the ritual interpretation are OCC’s practitioner framework, not survey findings.

Last verified: 2026-09-30.