In what may seem a totally non-intuitive finding, the US national Coffee Association (NCA) reports that coffee consumption has risen sharply in the past year. This, in spite of continuing high coffee prices and other factors…
The NCA’s Spring 2024 National Coffee Data Trends (NCDT) report reveals that, when asked in a recent survey, 67 percent of American adults said they had consumed coffee in the past day That’s more than any other beverage, including tap or bottled water. Compare that with 49 percent in 2004. And 75 percent of American adults reported drinking coffee in the past week, up by 4 percent since Spring 2023.
Revealing stats…
Other revealing statistics included:
- Increased coffee consumption is driven by consumers ages 25+.
- The greatest increase is among consumers aged 60+, whose daily consumption increased by 9 percent over the past year.
- Consumers aged 25 to 59 saw their consumption rise by 4.5 percent.
- Consumption by 18–24-year-olds held steady at 47 percent.
- A full 57 percent of American adults said they had purchased a specialty coffee in the past week, up by 7.5 percent year-on-year.
- Lattés remain the most popular espresso-based beverage, enjoyed by 18 percent of American adults, and followed by plain espresso (16 percent) and cappuccino (14 percent).
- Drip coffee makers (37 percent) and single-cup brewers (28 percent) continue to be the top two at-home preparation methods.
Lofty assertions
“NCA’s exclusive research has tracked coffee trends for more than 70 years,” NCA President and CEO Bill Murray boasted. “And America’s favorite beverage has only ever continued to grow in terms of overall popularity, and in innovating to meet consumers’ evolving tastes. This year’s two-decade high is only the latest proof of America’s enduring love affair with coffee.”
But why?
You’d think – and who wouldn’t? – that coffee consumption would be down overall following the first two decades of the 2000s. Environmental and economic upheaval have raged pretty much non-stop.
But the facts are clear. A new study by Placer.ai, a business research firm that follows trends in the shopping and dining sectors, revealed that more coffee shops were opening than closing. And walk-in traffic to coffee vendors was also up significantly. Placer’s analysts suspect that may have been large-ly the result of folks going back to working at the office after working at home over the CIVID crisis.
Crucially, the greatest gains in business were enjoyed by some of the smaller, more-aggressive re-gional coffee chains. At the same time, the leading premium coffee purveyor, Starbuck’s, reported a slight decline in total visits over its most recent business year.
My take
The word ‘habit’, when used in reference to coffee con-sumption, makes a broad, bold statement.There are obviously many folks who will do just about anything to get their morning fix. Regardless of price or avail-ability issues. And the word ‘fix’ seems all too appro-priate in that contest, given that caffeine has been shown to be just addictive as nicotine, alcohol or even heroin…
To paraphrase the US Postal Service motto, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these consumers from the swift acquisition of their appointed brew!”
~Maggie J.