One in three Hungarians find inspiration while drinking coffee - The Costa Art & Craft competition begins!

A good coffee can do wonders - it refreshes, inspires and energizes. According to a recent research conducted by Costa Coffee, a leading supplier in the Hungarian premium coffee market, coffee is a powerful inspirational factor. With this in mind, the company aims to find out who and what quality coffee inspires, and is therefore launching the Costa Art & Craft competition, with a total prize of more than HUF 2.25 million. Submissions are invited from professional artists, students of art in higher education and all Hungarian creators over the age of 18 until the end of August.

Coffee is part of our daily lives: although the domestic coffee market has seen a decline in volumes in recent years due to inflation and the changing economic environment, the recovery of the market has begun in 2024. The retail coffee market has started to grow again in the first four months of 2024, according to Nielsen data. During the period from January to April, sales were ahead by 1.8% in volume and 5.7% in value compared to the same period in 2023. 

According to the latest Nielsen data, the value of the domestic retail coffee market (excluding instant coffee) was worth HUF 75 billion between April 2023 and April 2024. During this period, manufacturers and distributors sold a total of 14.4 thousand tons of bean, ground and capsule coffee on the Hungarian market. Coca-Cola HBC Hungary is present in the premium segment, which accounts for 9% of the total coffee market by value, where the company has become a dominant player in the Hungarian premium retail coffee market.

From the renewal of the packaging to the inspiration competition

The Costa Coffee brand is refreshing its image and identity this year, with the aim of connecting more closely with changing consumer needs. Costa Coffee believes that a new consumer base is becoming more distinct among coffee enthusiasts: they are the ritual artists whose everyday lives are infused with a desire to create. Whether it's music, cooking, sports, reading or DIY activities, they are inspired by the ability to create in every aspect of life. Targeting them, Costa Coffee is now looking for new creations in the Costa Art & Craft competition, under the theme "The experience of coffee - ritual instead of routine".

How do we get inspired?

Is coffee even an important source of inspiration for creating and creative work? Coca-Cola HBC Hungary, the exclusive distributor of Costa Coffee in Hungary, wanted to know what inspires people: a survey conducted in collaboration with research company Opinio revealed that almost half of the respondents get inspired by ordinary activities, such as listening to music, drinking a good cup of coffee or going for a walk. Coffee was mentioned as a source of inspiration by a third of survey participants, 37% of them said they get inspiration from sports and one in four from cultural activities.

Have a coffee and apply!

Any kind of artwork inspired by coffee or coffee consumption can be submitted to the Costa Art & Craft competition, without any genre restrictions: be it a graphic or painting, a photo, video or animation, a poem, short story or song, a drawing, a sketch, a dress design or a cocktail - anything that makes our world more beautiful, interesting, exciting and our everyday life more enjoyable.

The jury members were also introduced at the media launch of the competition:

• József Szurcsik, Munkácsy Mihály Prize laureate, Merited Artist, fine artist, graphic artist and painter
  
• Luca Cserhalmi, aesthete, curator of the Godot Institute of Contemporary Art
• Panni Czikkely, design artist, illustrator and graphic designer
• Iván Gávris, coffee expert of Coca-Cola HBC Hungary
• Anna Róza Mitter, leather designer, founder of Mittersisters
• Paulina Kocsis, Fonogram Award-winning singer and songwriter, runner-up of the tenth season of the X-Factor, the face of Costa Coffee in 2024

Entries can be submitted to the competition until the 31st of August (24th of August for artworks made with artificial intelligence). The total prize of the competition is more than HUF 2.250.000, and the winning entries will be presented to the public at a pop-up exhibition.

The survey was commissioned by Coca-Cola HBC Hungary and was conducted in April 2024 with the participation of 1010 respondents.