Major convenience stores have a large number of stores, with Starbucks having 2,000 stores in Japan and 7-Eleven having 20,000.
Starbucks is a major cafe chain and has the largest number of stores in Japan, but the huge distribution network of convenience stores far surpasses even those of major cafe chains.
FamilyMart has 16,000 stores and Lawson has 14,000, so if each of these stores had a cafe, they would be the largest cafes.
The beans supplied to these stores by roasters are also on a large scale.
Green beans are procured through major trading companies, with 7-Eleven sourcing them through major trading companies such as Mitsui & Co. and Marubeni, FamilyMart through Itochu Corporation, and Lawson through Mitsubishi Corporation.
In the case of 7-Eleven, these beans are roasted by Ajinomoto General Foods (AGF) or UCC and supplied to each store.
Convenience store coffee is also a huge business for trading companies' coffee businesses and roasters.
The coffee beans are mainly from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, etc., and to suit Japanese tastes, medium-dark to dark roasts are the norm.
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