Israeli men are the big spenders in coffee bars

According to a recent survey, the Israeli woman spends NIS357 on average a year at coffee shops, while the Israeli man spends NIS 442.

By SHELLY PAZ
coffee biz 88 224 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
coffee biz 88 224
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
The Israeli man on average spends more money in coffee shops than the Israeli woman, refuting an old cliché that women spend more money and time at coffee shops gossiping with their friends. "I have a coffee in one of the coffee-shops in the area almost every day and mainly during the morning hours," Avi Ruvio, a Jerusalemite and the owner of a private investigations office told The Jerusalem Post, while sipping his coffee. "I enjoy drinking my coffee and arranging my thoughts." Keren Avieli, 28, a painter from Tel Aviv, says she sits twice or three times a week in a coffee shop, where she orders coffee and food. Both Avieli and Ruvio prefer the self-service chains over the traditional coffee shops. According to a survey published by the credit card company Cal, the Israeli woman spends NIS 357 on average a year at coffee shops, while the Israeli man spends NIS 442. The findings of the Cal survey might debunk the cliché about women in coffee shops, or it might just reinforce another cliché - the Israeli man tends to pay for his female companion. The Israeli customer on average sits six times a year in a coffee shop, spending an average of NIS 405; only 5 percent of Israelis spend over NIS 1,500 on average a year at coffee shops. Only 2% of the Israelis surveyed said they had paid a visit to a coffee shop only once this year, while 33% reported a weekly visit to their favorite coffee place. Nili Gross and Rabbi Uri Ayalon both work at several social projects. However, Gross says she sits only once a month in a coffee shop, while Ayalon enjoys his coffee three to four times a week. Surprisingly the survey revealed that Tel Aviv residents were not taking the lead as Israel's main coffee shop-sitters, but came 11th in terms of the percentage of residents visiting coffee places. In first place came their neighbors from Ra'anana and Hod Hasharon, of whom 60% reported having paid at least one visit to the coffee shop over the last year, compared with 45% of residents of Tel Aviv, 25% of Jerusalemites and 15% of residents of the northern city of Kiryat Shmona. Furthermore, the survey found that the majority of coffee shop-sitters were between 31-40 years old (30%), followed by the age group of 51-60 (23%). The 60-year-old and above constituted 12% of the crowd going to coffee places. Uri Marom, an active pensioner from Jerusalem, sits only once a week at one of three coffee shops he likes. "I prefer the traditional coffee shops where the waiter takes the client's order at his table, brings him his coffee and the bill." Friday morning until just after lunch time, mainly between 10 a.m. and 2 a.m., is Israelis' favorite time to hit the coffee shops, during which 8% of the coffee shops' weekly business occurs. About 9% of those surveyed said they stay loyal to one coffee shop, and 34% venture out to a different place every time. Also, the later in the day a customer arrives at a coffee shop, the more money he spends there: NIS 50 on average during the morning hours and NIS 88 during the later hours of the day. In terms of payment preferences, most of the coffee shop sitters, or 51% of the participants in the survey, preferred to pay in cash, and the rest of them preferred to pay with credit cards.