Hip Americans Drive Share of Gourmet Coffee Drinking to Record

(Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans drinking coffee every day has stagnated this year, but evidence suggests that trendy consumers are becoming pickier about the quality of their morning cup of joe.

While 63 percent of Americans drink coffee on a daily basis, unchanged from last year, the penetration of high-end beverages has hit a record, according to a study by the National Coffee Association released at the group’s conference Saturday in Atlanta. The share of gourmet coffee consumed reached 61 percent, compared to 39 percent for non-gourmet cups.

Consumers are becoming more knowledgeable about what they are buying and are demanding to know where their coffee is coming from, who the farmer was and details about quality such as flavor. That’s forcing many companies to change the way they do business, bringing on innovative products from sourcing coffee in exotic origins to cold brew.

“Coffee is America’s most-beloved beverage –- and for good reason,” Bill Murray, NCA’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “New consumer values have changed the game for coffee. But the industry is adapting –- and thriving –- by embracing innovation and transparency.”

The boom in non-espresso gourmet beverages, including frozen blended coffee and cold brew, has prompted the NCA to add a new category to its survey. Almost 80 percent of Americans have heard of cold brew and one in every five claim to drink it regularly or occasionally, the survey showed. The drink made by steeping coffee in water for several hours is favored by consumers under 40 years old.

Drinking habits are also changing, with 82 percent of the people who drank coffee the day before saying they did it at breakfast, down from 87 percent in 2012, according to the NCA. The number of people drinking it in the afternoon rose to 25 percent, up from 19 percent in 2012.

Home consumption is also eroding. The survey shows 78 percent of the people who drank coffee the day before did it at home, down from 84 percent in 2012. Still, home preparation increased both in 2018 and 2019.

NCA carried out the survey between Jan. 7 to Jan. 22, and included 2,815 respondents 18 years or older. The U.S. is the world’s top coffee consumer.

To contact the reporter on this story: Isis Almeida in Chicago at ialmeida3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tina Davis at tinadavis@bloomberg.net, Linus Chua, Virginia Van Natta

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