NZ vs UK: Coffee Shops

I talked about this briefly a few posts back, but in the UK, coffee shops are all ruled by the big chains such as Costa, Starbucks and Cafe Nero. They all sell the same sorta things too. Non-commercial cafes are seldom in busy city areas. They are mostly found in small towns and villages. Brighton has some though, but not all survive for very long. Billy's in Brighton is excellent for example. But the very popular Choccywoccydoodah closed down. In Swansea, I really haven't seen anything. There is one near where we live, but that's in suburb.

In NZ, Starbucks is the only major cafe chain they have. Even this would be like just the one per town/city. Everything else is just small chains like The Good Oil, or family owned places. All of them offer something different and interesting. Most offer interesting cakes and Babs, and most serve hot food too, unlike the big UK chains.