Have you ever heard the expression that the only constant is change? If you're a business it's especially true. If you're a business that is trying to figure out how to stay afloat in a disparaging economy you're probably latching on to whatever trends you can with the hope that they'll help you ride out the storm.
In the coffee industry, the trend (according to surveys by the SCAA, National Coffee Association and Experian Simmons) is that fewer people are drinking coffee; and the people who are drinking coffee are drinking less of it. Many consumers are making their brew at home to take with them or have invested in a machine to make their favorite specialty drinks at home. There is a silver lining though: more people are drinking gourmet coffee.
By gourmet I don't mean the uber-frappe deluxe that costs $6. I mean single origin, fair trade, organic coffees that are roasted in small batches by artisans who have honed their craft by making micro-roasts and reaching out to coffee producers who have long been underpaid for their product while a middle man lined his pockets.
The best part is that consumers are embracing the "artisan-made" trend.
As Details magazine points out in the August issue, hand crafted items have become something of a "consumer religion". It has gone mainstream, and brought aficionados (and their wallets) to microbreweries, farms, bakeries, clothiers, perfumeries, and Esty.com.
Consumers want to know where the end product came from, how it was made and who made it; they'll usually pay more for handcrafted as well. It's a return to a time when everything was handcrafted and everything you consumed was the result of some kind of hard work, not a corporate business plan and venture capitalists. Buying artisan made gives consumers a sense of good karma; it's wholesome to buy homemade goods.
As consumers grow more aware of their choices, there are bound to be sub-sects of people who will choose to be choosier. More and more people are adhering to a diet which restricts what they will consume. Many are voluntary, like vegetarian or vegan, and some are not, like people who suffer from lactose intolerance, Celiac disease (gluten intolerance) or diabetes.
Those groups, too, are creating a growing demand for choices that work within the constraints of their diets. Coffee generally maintains its appeal with these groups because it can be tailored to many tastes. The items offered alongside coffee are where there is room to expand to include various dietary needs. There are a lot of great options available, and many have grown popular with people without dietary restrictions simply because the products offer healthy alternatives.
People may be drinking less coffee, but they are starting to demand higher quality, and expect that options are available for all types of eating habits. Responding to these trends will help bring coffee into the next generation; a generation of empowered, well informed consumers.
Surveys from Specialty Coffee Retailer magazine, July 2010
Details: Artisanal America
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