Geoff Helisma Have you had your coffee fix this morning? How many coffees a day do you drink? What is it about coffee that makes you drink it? Is all coffee the same? How many coffee outlets can one small town sustain? Over recent years, there has been prolific growth in the number of places where people can partake in the delights of drinking an espresso coffee in Yamba – at cafes, restaurants, takeaways, bakeries and the kiosk at Main Beach – wherever businesses are located in Yamba, there’s a coffee outlet. Back in July of 2009, Northern Rivers Tourism commissioned a group of five journalists from various publications to spend several days touring the region; the objective: “to generate some stories in publications and magazines on the Pacific Coast Touring Route from Byron down to Coffs Harbour”. Among the journalists, coffee aficionado Ashley Felderhof blogged on The Coffee Forum: “The cafes at Yamba are very much of the Mum & Dad cake-shop variety. The only place that seemed any good (& I tried three) was the cafe at the bottom of the YHA hostel.” However, Mr Felderhof, who was smitten the day before after enjoying a coffee in Bangalow – “it wouldn’t have been out of place in Sydney or Melbourne” –, may have overlooked several coffee vendors that would have fitted within his ‘desirable’ criteria. “On to Yamba and from a coffee point-of-view, probably would have been best to stay in Bangalow!” he wrote. But things have changed remarkably since then; there are now around 30 outlets to choose from on a daily basis – with several others vending at the monthly Yamba River Market and weekly at the Yamba Farmers Market. The 2016 census reveals some interesting employment statistics: 4.3 per cent of Yamba’s 2,070-strong workforce (total population 6,076) is employed at cafes and restaurants, while overall in NSW and Australia 2.4 percent are employed at cafes and restaurants. At Byron Bay, the town Yamba is often compared with in regard to tourism, around six per cent of workers are employed at cafes and restaurants. ‘Crowding’ of the coffee market is not just a phenomenon being felt in Yamba; it’s happening globally. ‘Too Much Caffeine?’ the November 7 edition of the Wall Street Journal asked when exploring the USA’s market, ‘Coffee Shops Face a Shakeout’. “After mushrooming in recent years, coffee shops struggle as grocers, gas stations and fast-food chains add specialty beverages,” the journal states. “Consumers’ hankering for caffeine and quality coffee has fueled a big build out of cafes in the last five years … there are now nearly 33,000 coffee shops in the U.S. [population 325 million], including those run by big chains such as Starbucks, up 16% from five years ago, according to market research firm Mintel,” journalist Julie Jargon wrote in her story, ‘America’s coffee market is getting too crowded’. On a coffee shop per capita basis in Yamba (not including grocers, gas stations, fast-food chains and the like), there are around 300 men, women and children for each of the 20 or more coffee vendors trading during daylight hours. In Australia, data compiled by business analytics company IBISWorld shows that the annual growth in the industry (2013-2018), as of October 2017, is 4.8 percent, with 18,714 businesses nationwide, employing 73,329 people and generating $8billion in revenue. This compares to IBISWorld’s 2014-15 Cafes and Coffee Shops in Australia report, which highlighted annual industry growth (2010-2015) of 3.2 percent, with 6,701 businesses nationwide, generating revenue of $4.3billion.