Coffee houses too expensive?

“€4.20 not for a mocha, but for a good time”

Landtmann boss Bernd Querfeld, guild vice-president Alexandra Psichos-Prankl, guild chairman Wolfgang Binder, Manuel Rubey as waiter, advertiser Thomas Kratky

(Bild: Bartel Gerhard)

Vienna's coffee houses proudly present a new study on their function as a "social place" - and a campaign with actor Manuel Rubey as the head waiter. The café owners find criticism of high prices unfair. On the contrary, they believe that too little appreciation is often given to what coffee houses can do.

Vienna's coffee houses are "on the right track", says guild head Wolfgang Binder. According to a new SME research survey, 32,000 people in Vienna go to a coffee house every day, which makes around 15 regulars for every establishment. The fact that only around 100 of the 2,000 establishments with a coffee house license are still classic coffee houses does not bother the long-established coffee house owners at all. The fact that "coffee houses have evolved" is pleasing from Binder's point of view." 

"The basic function of the coffee house has not changed"
Whether coffee bar, ethnic café or the familiar "Tschocherl" on the corner: every coffee house has its own clientele, but ultimately the function is "the same for every guest": the main reason for visiting a coffee house is to meet up with friends and family, Binder quotes the survey (see chart below). He thinks that "a hundred years ago, this question would have received very similar answers. So the basic function of the coffee house has not changed".

(Bild: Krone KREATIV)

Of course, one problem unites all businesses, namely that customers have to keep an ever closer eye on their money. However, Landtmann boss Bernd Querfeld confidently puts complaints about high prices into perspective: "At 4.20 euros, I'm not really paying for the mocha, but for two nice hours". The offer ranges from service to newspapers and free internet to the ambience. "When people come to the Landtmann by car, they pay more for the underground parking garage opposite - and nobody complains," Querfeld marvels.

"People have learned to be at home again"
Apart from the prices, the cafés still have Corona on their minds. "People have learned to be at home again," muses Binder. In addition, the distance between work and home is increasing for the Viennese. In reality, this means that the entire daytime business is no longer available, and only the evening business is becoming economically difficult for café owners. However, Binder, himself the boss of the traditional Frauenhuber café, does not see a generational problem: "The younger crowd is coming back."

"Nobody in the world has such a large living room"
To boost business, the cafés are now also emphasizing their function as a social place in a new video campaign with actor Manuel Rubey in the role of a singing head waiter. According to him, Vienna is lucky to have institutions "where you can sit for six hours over a mocha if necessary. I think it's great that this is still possible". Advertising man Thomas Kratky also believes that coffee houses in the city are not appreciated enough: "Nobody in the world has as big a living room as the Viennese."

He is used to staging love for brands, says Kratky. However, this is easy with coffee houses: even if you sometimes complain about prices or unfriendly waiters: "You can't not love them". Guild Vice President Alexandra Psichos-Prankl goes one step further: the coffee house is the place par excellence for Vienna, where people are treated equally without any distinction of class and where you can always find company. She is convinced: "The coffee house helps you to stay human."