Which coffee brand beat Starbucks? Heavy users chose it once every three visits

[The Financial News] People in their 20s turned out to be the age group that visits coffee shops most frequently in Korea. Among them, the most commonly used coffee brand was Mega MGC Coffee, with heavy users choosing it for roughly one out of every three annual visits.
On the 15th, NongHyup Bank (NH Bank) released an analysis of coffee shop payment records made with NH Nonghyup Card over the course of 2025.
According to the analysis, people in their 20s were the most frequent visitors to coffee shops. They made an average of 26.0 coffee shop payments per year with NH Nonghyup Card. Those in their 30s and 40s followed with 24.0 and 20.1 payments, respectively.
For people in their 50s and 60s, annual coffee shop usage dropped to 17.1 and 11.5 payments, respectively. Teenagers showed a similar pattern to those in their 50s, with an annual average of 17.0 payments.
Among heavy users—customers whose coffee shop usage is above average—the most frequently visited chain was Mega MGC Coffee. They chose Mega MGC Coffee for 33% of their annual visits, or about one out of every three. Compose Coffee followed at 26%, Paik's Coffee at 21%, Starbucks at 20%, and Ediya Coffee at 18%.
One out of every four heavy users drank at least two cups of coffee a day, at least once a week.
Looking at weekday usage patterns by time of day in Seoul’s major business districts, coffee demand in Yeouido and in the Gwanghwamun–Jongno area surged to as much as four times the average during lunchtime. In contrast, Gangnam showed relatively small fluctuations by time of day, indicating steady coffee consumption throughout the day.
Yeouido, which is home to a large securities district where people start work relatively early, recorded the highest level of morning coffee consumption among the business districts analyzed.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter