SupplySide

Not Just a Cup of 'Joe'

February 1, 2003 Sarah Minasian Comments

Posted in Articles, Beverages, Topics

A sense of awareness is percolating amongst coffee drinkers. The “fill ‘er up again” mentality toward the commodity has evolved into, “I’ll have a triple tall skinny café latte with a shot of vanilla — to go.” Just as wine was once offered as either red or white, the days of choosing solely regular or decaffeinated coffee are slowly fading. Coffee, with the consumers’ educated palettes in tow, has entered the revered status of a food group in its own right. The flavored-coffee market is still booming; however, it seems a trend is brewing as high-brow specialty-coffee drinkers move away from the hazelnuts and amarettos of the world, and more toward unadulterated coffee. Coffee is hot, even if it is served chilled or on the rocks.

The New York-based National Coffee Association’s (NCA) annual “2001 National Coffee Drinking Trends Survey” says 52% of U.S. adults over 18 years of age drink coffee every day, representing 107 million daily drinkers. Of these, 29 million drink gourmet coffee beverages, whether specialty coffee, espresso-based beverages (latte, espresso, caffé mocha, cappuccino), or frozen and iced coffee beverages. Another 28%, or 57 million adults, drink coffee occasionally. Coffee drinkers consume, on average, 3.3 cups of coffee per day.

These nouveau coffee sophisticates are aware of coffee-bean types, and their inherent flavor and aroma characteristics, as well as the effects of various roasting methods. Similar to the microbrewery concept, coffee retail shops are opening up with in-store roasters — bringing the customers a little closer to the action. And, if drinkers don’t have time to sit and sip while listening to the snap, crackle and pop of the beans, they can always catch a buzz on the fly at a drive-through coffee store.

The results of the NCA survey also show the widespread appeal of coffee isn’t gender-specific, noting:
• On a per-capita basis, men drink as much coffee as women (1.7 cups per day each).
• Women are more excited about coffee varieties currently available, and a higher proportion of women indicated that drinking coffee is a good way to relax. Men appear to more readily attest that coffee helps “get things done.”

What’s happening
Demand for specialty coffees at table-service restaurants continues to grow. According to the Washington, D.C.-based National Restaurant Association’s (NRA) “Tableservice Restaurant Trends — 2001,” table-service restaurants with higher check averages are most likely to offer espresso and other specialty coffees. The survey notes 87% of full-service restaurants with average checks of $25 or more offer espresso or other specialty coffees, compared with 48% with average checks of $15 to $24.99, 23% with average checks of $8 to $14.99 and 13% with average checks of less than $8. Nearly two-thirds of consumers who order specialty coffees at table-service restaurants say they are buying more or the same amount compared with two years ago.

Quick-service restaurants continue to steep in the specialty-coffee action. According to the NRA’s “Quickservice Restaurant Trends — 2000,” more than half of quick-service operators surveyed agreed that espresso and other specialty coffees are gaining popularity in quick-service restaurants, ranking second among menu items most-frequently ordered. According to the NRA’s 2001 “Consumer Report on Eating Share Trends,” quick-service restaurants, including coffeehouses and bars, account for more than half of all restaurant occasions for which any type of coffee was ordered — holding a 75% share of restaurant orders of specialty coffee.

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