In many countries around the world, coffee chains have established themselves as leading brands thereby pushing small local cafes into trouble, and there are some credible reasons that could validate these claims.
Firstly, the root cause of these changes can be attributed to the aggressive marketing schemes employed by some multinational brands. When such renowned brands push their business interests, there is sometimes more pressure on local people to fall for the bait. In addition, many brands are emerging worldwide every now and then, and coffee being the most common beverage, is one that is most susceptible to be exploited. Further, the increased levels of globalization are conducive to such developments.
On the other side, there is no reason why local cafes cannot co-exist with big multinational chains. Even though there might be few problems that could persist, many countries have cordial environment for all sort of business including small cafes. Further, when the quality of these small cafes do provide the best, there is an obvious point of thriving business even if the conditions are hard. For instance, in many countries, there are many local cafes that exist alongside multinational chains. So, the root cause cannot be just the effects of multinational coffee chains but larger causes like quality, hygiene and trust.
In conclusion, I believe coffee chains do pose a threat to small cafes, but these are minimal and the these threats are largely avoidable for small cafes if they maintain their quality and rather focus on trying to build trust among their existing customers.