It’s no secret that coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. In fact, coffee consumption is on the rise with people drinking more coffee now than ever before.
Business Wire has predicted that the total coffee industry will reach $191.1 billion by 2023.
So what does the future hold for coffee? What are the new coffee trends for 2022? Keep reading to find out!
Coffee Tourism
Coffee tourism is where people visit places where coffee is grown or celebrated.
Millennials are increasingly basing their travel experiences on visiting places with unique cafes that offer unique blends, education or experiences.
Or they are choosing to visit coffee farms in places like Costa Rica and Honduras to connect with the whole growing process.
Some coffee farms now have their own hotels where tourists can immerse themselves in coffee processing and take brewing and even cooking lessons.
“We do it to be able to share our model with the final consumer and connect the whole chain, favouring our community and our industry. We want people to come and get acquainted with a different model of making coffee, to make a community, and to ask where they can get that coffee” https://perfectdailygrind.com/2017/08/coffee-tourism-should-you-visit-a-farm-hotel/
The rise of the blends
One of the biggest coffee trends for 2022 is going to be coffee blends.
Coffee blends used to be frowned upon because companies would use them to get rid of lower quality beans. Consumers also didn’t like that the origins of beans couldn’t be traced back.
Today, blends are back in fashion. Companies now try to mix beans from different farms in a region, or from different countries to create a complex and more satisfying finish.
Coffee aficionados are realising the blends can create a much more unique drink and an interesting flavour profile.
“There’s a creative process to blending that can be a lot of fun, and sometimes 1+1 equals more than 2. Personally, I often find that I’m able to get a better balance and more depth of flavours in espresso when blending. Somehow, it’s different to me than for filter brewing, where I’m also striving for a more clean and precise cup profile.” Klaus Thomsen, Co-founder of Coffee Collective
The popularity of blends is even spreading to single-origin stalwarts and blends have appeared in brewer and barista competitions.
The king of blends, however, is Luigi Lavazza, who created the first-ever coffee blend back in 1895. Today the Lavazza company are masters in creating coffee blends with unique tastes and a quality flavour profile.
“Blending is a genuine art form, that was invented by Luigi Lavazza more than a hundred years ago. Today, it is in the hands of the experts of our Research & Development Department, that selects the best quality product, travelling to coffee-producing countries and tasting their green coffee.” Lavazza
Coffee subscriptions
The pandemic definitely had an impact on the rise of coffee subscriptions, but it was already a growing trend.
For those who wanted to experience and know more about the origin of their coffee, subscriptions provided the perfect lockdown distraction. There was also a spike in gifting subscriptions to those in quarantine.
“People wanted to become home baristas when all this started. So we came out with videos for home brewing and people were going crazy for them.” Pedro Miguel Echavarría, owner of a Colombian roastery-café, Pergamino
In the subscription market, customers can even choose subscriptions that fit their particular ethical values.
You can choose from companies like the Hundred House roastery which is working towards becoming carbon neutral or Easy Jose which ships hand-picked coffee from the Peruvian Mayni community.
Fireheart sends specialised blends whereas Exhale provides a series of healthy coffee roasts.
As coffee shops open, subscriptions are likely to remain popular, but post-lockdown there may be a lot more educated coffee consumers suddenly entering coffee shops and restaurants with a lot more knowledge than before.
The Growth of Single Serve Capsules
Coffee capsules have been growing in popularity over the past few years, and it’s easy to see why. Capsules are convenient, easy to use, and perfect for people who want a quick and simple coffee fix.
Mordor Intelligence’s report on the capsule market predicted an increase from $25 billion in 2020, to well over $29 billion by 2025.
Popularity has also surged during the pandemic because capsules offer a convenient café-style experience. Consumers don’t have to know anything about brewing to create a barista style coffee.
Capsules also keep much longer than ground or even a bag of coffee beans. Where a roasted on date may put off some coffee drinkers that fear disappears with a capsule.
Consumers also like that you can have a massive variety of coffee choice, something you can’t get when you commit to buying a bag. This flexibility and usability has helped this sector flourish.
With consumers much more concerned about the environmental impact of capsules, most companies are bringing out more sustainable and technologically advanced capsules.
Lavazza A Modo Mio range has an aluminium lid to prevent oxygen and moisture from getting into the coffee. The Lavazza Blue professional range of capsules is also a very popular commercial choice as businesses don’t need to train baristas to be able to serve quality coffee.
Lavazza have even introduced their new Eco Caps, a 100% compostable capsule range that breaks down in just six months.
The popularity of capsules doesn’t seem to be slowing. For businesses, being able to provide a variety of top-quality coffee drinks, guaranteed, regardless of the number of coffees dispensed daily should continue to be a big draw.
Conscious Coffee
With climate change the number one priority for most companies right now, the coffee industry is also rising to the challenge.
43% of global consumers said they chose their product based on sustainability, environmental and social factors. Consumers want to be able to see traceability and real concern for the land, the growers and the production of the coffee they are investing in.
Many coffee roasters are direct sourcing their coffee and working with the coffee growers to ensure not only fair trade but the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of the workers.
Brands that are demonstrating their socio-economic credentials are seeing an increased following on social media.
La Colombe Coffee Roasters has achieved a huge following with their vision of empowering communities, delivering sustainable packaging, supporting the national parks and investing in coffee-growing communities,
Companies also are pushing ahead with innovative sustainable packaging and working with growers to promote biodynamic farming that will improve the fertility of the soil.
Lavazza has always had sustainability at the heart of the company.
“A world that destroys the fruits of nature is not a world for me.”
Luigi Lavazza, 1934
It operates a non-profit foundation – The Fondazione Lavazza to support coffee-producing communities to promote female workers, entrepreneurship and good agricultural climate-change friendly practices.
They also have a project to support NGO’s dedicated to preserving the Amazon.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CTm4NbwosUO/
The Lavazza ¡Tierra! range is their version of a Fair Trade brand, where they work directly with coffee growing communities in Honduras, Columbia and Peru to support their use of technology to improve sustainability and even get involved with training.
The Age of Speciality Coffee
Speciality coffee is also growing in popularity. The Allegra report, “The Future of Coffee” also predicts that in the UK, the speciality coffee sector will have the strongest growth.
Speciality coffee usually refers to coffee beans that are high quality, single-origin, often single farm and often comes with a traceable, authentic and socially conscious story.
They may also be sold in micro and nano lots which further enhances their exclusivity.
“As volumes are low and the costs for preparing these lots and their associated logistics are high, micro and nano lots do not usually represent the core business of a coffee producer, but may primarily boost the producer’s reputation for having the skills to produce interesting varieties of processed coffee. CBI. European market potential for speciality coffee
It’s part of what industry experts are calling the “third wave” of coffee – where consumers not only want to know more about how their coffee is brewed, but they also want to find out the entire background story of their beans and understand the environmental and social supply chain.
This can be seen in the massive growth of independent cafes promoting their speciality roasts and promoting the story about the origin of the beans.
“Third-wave coffee refocuses the experience on making a superior-quality coffee product at every point in the supply chain so the consumer can truly appreciate ‘the best.” Just Drinks
According to the CBI, the demand for speciality coffees is likely to be a long term trend.
Even large roasters are trying to offer speciality coffee to their product range.
An example of a speciality coffee is the Lavazza Kafa. This Arabica coffee only grows spontaneously in the forests of Ethiopia. It has a limited production as it is harvested by hand and dried in the sun by the inhabitants. How to preserve these coffee plants is handed down from generation to generation.
Plant-based milk
It’s hard to ignore the rise of plant-based milk, with new brands appearing on supermarket shelves each month. Today you can choose from soy, hemp, cashew, hazelnut, macadamia, oat, coconut, pea and now potato!
Almond and soy have been the most popular, concerns about how these are grown and their environmental impact may see them fall out of favour.
Potato milk on the other hand maybe the miracle milk for 2022. It’s more sustainable than its nut counterparts, but it is also easier to grow and kinder to the environment.
Plus it also boasts some impressive benefits like being low in saturated fat and containing as much calcium as cow’s milk.
As far as adding it to coffee? It’s also ticking all the boxes as it has a creamy texture that foams well making it the perfect partner for frothy cappuccinos.
The Swedish brand – DUG made by Veg of Lund is now available in Ocado in the UK – so watch this space to see if it takes off.
“DUG has a pleasant aroma of potato that doesn’t have an overbearing taste. It gives a fantastic creaminess that’s long-lasting. Adding to it, DUG is round in taste and has a well-balanced sweetness.” Dug Drinks
This is definitely a variety that you need to consider stocking.
What do these coffee trends mean for your business?
Coffee culture is booming. Even during the pandemic, when we couldn’t get to coffee shops, the desire for good quality coffee strengthened.
This is evidenced by the rise in coffee machine sales and coffee subscriptions.
More and more people developed an appreciation not only for good coffee but also awareness about provenance and quality. Just like with wine and beer consumption habits, coffee consumers are starting to increase their knowledge and interest in varieties, production, processing and consumption.
While coffee aficionados will still support single origin, blends are becoming well respected too and should be offered alongside the more speciality roasts.
The trend for alternative kinds of milk is also only likely to strengthen. Newcomers to the market are bringing more barista blends and milk varieties that work perfectly in coffee drinks.
The capsule market is also making top quality coffee more accessible. It’s no longer about being part of an ‘exclusive club,’ but being able to recreate a consistent drink from quality capsules.
This offers the opportunity for more businesses to offer a coffee shop experience no matter what the location or occasion.
For restaurants and cafes, providing quality and speciality coffee as part of the menu is imperative. And it’s not just having coffee available. Millennials especially are looking for a ‘coffee experience’ where they can connect with the brand, the coffee story or ethics is also important.
Businesses need to be ready for this third wave of coffee by having reliable machines and partnering with brands that can keep up with demand for great quality. Consumers want to feel like a barista at home, at work and on holiday and that means offering quality, consistency and variety.
Partnering with a coffee brand like Lavazza that is constantly innovating will help ensure your business always has top quality blends and conscious choices. Choose from commercial capsule machines or bean to cup options that will provide your customers with the range they require.
Why not be ready for changes in the market and partner with a brand that prides itself on innovation and keeping up with trends. Contact Beverages Direct to find out how Lavazza could support your business growth or come and visit our showroom and have a coffee with us.
Get in contact with us here or call us on 0870 950 1118.
