Although the market for branded coffee shops is now worth £65m, having grown sixteenfold since 1994 and rising, a new report from market researchers, Mintel, details a long-term slowdown in coffee shop growth. Price remains the number one consumer concern and coffee drinking continues to decline among the much targeted 15-24 age group, even though the popularity of the coffee shop has grown on the basis of a 'youthful and aspirational' image, according to the report. Another threat to the coffee shop is the increasing development of the coffee offer within sandwich shops and pubs. Moreover, future competition is likely to emerge between the coffee shop and juice bar for high street locations. Mintel forecasts that juice bars are the next big American import due to hit the UK. The American juice market is currently worth $3bn. Overseas operators are reported to be seeking to enter the UK market in 2001. However, in the short term Mintel forecasts that the coffee bar market will double in size over the next five years. In terms of the overall café market, the branded coffee shop sector has nearly doubled its total share of the care market over a two-year period between 1998 and 2000, accounting for over six per cent of the total market.