Moscow is pampering coffee-drinkers with several café chains

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By Susanna Niinivaara
     
      Forget about samovars. They are as unfamiliar in today’s Moscow as an espresso machine on the stage in Anton Chekhov’s plays.
      Coffee is gradually replacing tea in the Russian capital with an increasing number of cafés belonging to several chains. While salaries are going up in the country, people can spare a few roubles for a latte or a cappuccino, which cost EUR 3-5 per cup in trendy cafés.
      Compared with last year, the Russians’ disposable income increased by 10 per cent over the first quarter of the current year. Moreover, the trend is expected to continue.
     
Starbucks, the leading international coffee and coffeehouse chain, primarily based in Seattle in the USA, opened its first coffee shop in Moscow last autumn.
      Prior to Starbuck’s long-awaited entry into Russia, competitors including local brands such as Kofe Haus, Shokoladnitsa, and Coffee Bean, the first Moscow coffee chain, had already surfaced in the Russian capital. Today they are all present on Tverskaya Street, the most exclusive shopping thoroughfare in downtown Moscow.
     
”This is the first time for us to visit this café”, said students Anastasija Bures, 19, and Anna Torohova, 18.
      ”But we go to a coffee shop every day after lectures”, adds Torohova.
      The young men who are studying at the same institute as the ladies knew that this Coffee Bean shop is a good place, which is why they invited Bures and Torohova there, too.
      At Coffee Bean, one can buy a cup of coffee and a slice of cheesecake for less than ten euros.
      ”This café has democratic prices”, notes Anna Torohova, meaning that the prices are reasonable.
      Kirill Milkus, aged 18, regards the prices in Moscow cafés as on the pricy side, but this prompts a torrent of protests among the other students at the table.
      These second-year students would also be willing to work in order to afford sitting in cafés. They say that it is customary that third-year students work while studying.
      ”Many students work in banks”, says Anna Torohova.
      ”If you take daytime courses, you can work in the evenings, while those who choose evening classes can work in the daytime”, explains Nikita Mullin, aged 18.
      At Coffee Bean one can hang out only until 11:00 p.m., while some cafés are open around the clock.
     
Once the samovars have been forgotten, get used to this: The Coffee Bean clientele includes even grown-ups in addition to youths. A couple of men in their 50s are sitting down at a table. One of them has a cup of espresso while the other has a glass of fresh carrot juice.
      The Swedish Wayne’s Coffee also launched a pilot café in Moscow in 2006. The chain is now looking for partners with an objective of opening 15 to 20 new coffee shop outlets in both St. Petersburg and Moscow in the next 3 to 5 years.
      In addition to the coffee shop invasion, there are also some early signs of a health food boom on the horizon.
      On the other hand, ”a latte to go” is a concept that has not yet spread widely in Moscow, which is why it is possible to have good coffee in pleasant surroundings and with friendly service, but rarely any fast service.
     
However, some people say that it is coming and it's only a matter of time: the Muscovites are quick to learn new ways of consumption, while the metropolis itself is always on the go.
      As The New York Times wrote recently, the 24/7 rhythm is already more strongly ingrained in people in Moscow than in those living in New York - a city that allegedly never sleeps.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 20.5.2008


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SUSANNA NIINIVAARA / Helsingin Sanomat
susanna.niinivaara@hs.fi