U.S. coffee chains will take two years to fully recover from an US$11.5 billion sales plunge that wiped out a quarter of their market in a year when COVID-19 kept customers from cafes, according to market researcher Allegra Group.

The U.S. branded coffee chain segment, which is dominated by Starbucks Corp. and Inspire Brands Inc.’s Dunkin’ Donuts, saw sales plunge 24 percent to US$36 billion in the past 12 months predominantly due to COVID-19 disruptions, the London-based group said Monday in a report. The industry will return to pre-pandemic sales by 2023, Allegra said, adding that 65 percent of surveyed U.S. industry leaders say trading conditions will improve during the next 12 months.

“With a changing political situation, the prospect of mass vaccinations and operators rapidly adapting with new trading formats, there is now light at the end of the tunnel after an incredibly challenging year,” Allegra founder and chief executive officer Jeffrey Young said in the report. “We expect trading to begin stabilizing from summer 2021, however it will take a number of years for operators to fully readjust to the ‘new normal.’”(SD-Agencies)