A study of coffee culture in Kathmandu Valley
Chhetri, Arpan (2025)
2025
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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025121536602
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025121536602
Tiivistelmä
This thesis studied the new coffee culture that has developed in Kathmandu Valley and how coffee has shifted to be a niche drink to a mainstream part of the urban lifestyle. The study also explored the perceptions of consumers in terms of Nepali and international coffee brands, the determinants of a coffee taking pattern and business opportunities and challenges which are faced by local coffee business owners in a highly competitive market.
This thesis followed a mixed method where quantitative and qualitative methods provided detailed information. The quantitative part involved use of online survey that involved 100 consumers of coffee in Kathmandu Valley, where convenience sampling was adopted to guarantee different demographics. The qualitative aspect involved semi-structured interviews of coffee shop owners and baristas, who were chosen using purposive sampling to get an insight into their business views and the industry perspective. Quantitative data analysis was performed with Webropol software based on the quantitative analysis; including descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis, and qualitative data was analyzed by use of thematic coding to establish patterns and themes that are recurrent.
The research results have shown that coffee has been greatly embraced by the urban culture of Kathmandu Valley, especially the young and educated population. However, multiple regression analysis showed the strongest predictors of coffee consumption motivation to be cultural influence, globalization and social media, greatly outperforming conventional aspects such as product quality per se. Though most of the respondents (76%) indicated that they preferred locally produced Nepali coffee, imported brands still have a significant market share because of excellent brand recognition and high trust. The qualitative analysis of interviews revealed some main themes such as the business motivation based on community building and the development of the third space, issues of the operations connected with the staff retention and supply chain management, and the essential role of the consistent quality and customer satisfaction in the competitive positioning.
This thesis concluded that coffee culture in Kathmandu Valley is not only a shift of preference of beverages but can be considered a shift of social behaviors, identity markers, and economic opportunities. The study points out that concerted actions of entrepreneurs, policymakers, and stakeholders are required to enhance the local branding of coffee, consistency in quality, empower the domestic producers, and to create equilibrium between globalization forces and the true Nepali hospitality. This thesis provided much empirical data to the paucity of academic literature on the coffee culture in Nepal and made much to offer on the following aspects of business strategy, policy formulation, and future studies on how coffee has become a symbol of urbanization, socialization, economic development in Kathmandu Valley.
This thesis followed a mixed method where quantitative and qualitative methods provided detailed information. The quantitative part involved use of online survey that involved 100 consumers of coffee in Kathmandu Valley, where convenience sampling was adopted to guarantee different demographics. The qualitative aspect involved semi-structured interviews of coffee shop owners and baristas, who were chosen using purposive sampling to get an insight into their business views and the industry perspective. Quantitative data analysis was performed with Webropol software based on the quantitative analysis; including descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis, and qualitative data was analyzed by use of thematic coding to establish patterns and themes that are recurrent.
The research results have shown that coffee has been greatly embraced by the urban culture of Kathmandu Valley, especially the young and educated population. However, multiple regression analysis showed the strongest predictors of coffee consumption motivation to be cultural influence, globalization and social media, greatly outperforming conventional aspects such as product quality per se. Though most of the respondents (76%) indicated that they preferred locally produced Nepali coffee, imported brands still have a significant market share because of excellent brand recognition and high trust. The qualitative analysis of interviews revealed some main themes such as the business motivation based on community building and the development of the third space, issues of the operations connected with the staff retention and supply chain management, and the essential role of the consistent quality and customer satisfaction in the competitive positioning.
This thesis concluded that coffee culture in Kathmandu Valley is not only a shift of preference of beverages but can be considered a shift of social behaviors, identity markers, and economic opportunities. The study points out that concerted actions of entrepreneurs, policymakers, and stakeholders are required to enhance the local branding of coffee, consistency in quality, empower the domestic producers, and to create equilibrium between globalization forces and the true Nepali hospitality. This thesis provided much empirical data to the paucity of academic literature on the coffee culture in Nepal and made much to offer on the following aspects of business strategy, policy formulation, and future studies on how coffee has become a symbol of urbanization, socialization, economic development in Kathmandu Valley.