Clodagh Evans, International Graduate, Bord Bia - The Irish Food Board
Bord Bia's Consumer Lifestyle Trends discuss the widespread shift towards health, wellbeing and responsible living. It is interesting to see is that consumers are expecting everyday habits such as drinking their cup of coffee in the morning to deliver on these ever growing lifestyle trends.
This food alert aims to discuss what is currently trending in coffee before taking a look at the future of coffee and what opportunities this presents for brands.
According to Mintel’s Report; The Future of Coffee: 2020 there are three current trends in coffee (Mintel, 2020):
1. Making coffee healthier
With consumers becoming more health conscious than ever they are uncertain when it comes to whether their much loved coffee is healthy or not. This is made clear when we see that 45% of UK coffee drinkers think standard coffee has health benefits vs 45% who do not (Mintel, 2020).
Current brands aim to convince consumers that coffee can fit into their healthy lives by making use of clean label cues and added health benefits. Caribou Coffee in the US make the claim “they have nothing to hide when it comes to coffee ingredients”.
The organic claim on coffee is also becoming increasingly important to millennials as it provides proof of clean label with 11% of all global coffee launches in 2019 using the claim (Mintel, 2020).
“Coffee Plus” as it is referred to in the Mintel report is showing huge potential with 32% of 18-34 year old US coffee drinkers claiming they would prefer to drink functional coffee than take vitamins and supplements. Big coffee brands have been slow to respond to the opportunity to provide coffee drinkers with the added health benefits they desire.
2. Iced ready-to-drink coffee sales are booming in the US and China.
Traditional coffee players are being challenged by major soft drink brands who have recognised the popularity of cold brew within the ready-to-drink coffee market. In 2019, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Danone showed great innovation in the area of RTD coffee.
3. Rise of the in-home barista
Coffee drinkers are in need of fresher, better quality coffee leading them to buy whole bean coffee to make at home themselves. This suggests a shift from convenience coffee to quality coffee as millennials consider themselves as somewhat coffee connoisseurs.
On the other hand brands are still seeking to premiumise the still popular and much needed instant format with Nescafe launching an organic and a hand-picked Sumatran instant coffee which communicates premium and provenance.
Current opportunities in coffee:
- Brands need to prove the healthiness of their coffee and how it can fit into their consumer’s healthy lifestyle by tapping into clean label cues and functional health claims.
- Capitalise on the opportunity to provide consumers with the added health benefits they desire by enhancing their daily cup of coffee. These added health benefits could include links to mental health and claims such as relaxation, nootropics and gut health which are hugely popular among younger coffee drinkers today.
- Cold brew brands are getting creative with innovation going beyond just the use of different plant-based milk combinations. There is opportunity to embrace wider flavours and functions within the cold-brew and RTD category.
Future Opportunities in coffee:
- Functional coffee launches are set to rise in the next few years which means brands need to explore making use of different functional benefits from beauty to gut health. Mastermind Coffee is a brain enhancing organic coffee that boosts mood, mental clarity and provides all day energy.
- Younger coffee drinkers will look for more experimental and different coffee flavours which in turn will provide huge opportunity for innovation. According to the Mintel (2020) report 94% of 18-44 year old coffee drinkers in the US would try coffee with added flavours. Brands should focus on creating bold and exotic flavours while also tapping in to the idea of indulgence and premium flavours.
- Finally in order to be successful into the future coffee brands will need to make it easy for consumers to be ethical. Sustainability needs to be proven both in packaging and coffee farming practices as well as ethical trading with farmers. The most pressing issue under this topic is the need for coffee pods to become greener.
To learn more about the future of coffee; read Mintels 2020 report: “The Future of Coffee: 2020”.
References:
Bord Bia (2020) Consumer Lifestyle Trends. Retrieved 27 February 2020, from https://www.bordbiaconsumerlifestyletrends.ie/
Mintel (2020) The Future of Coffee 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020
Caribou Coffee (2020) Coffee Retrieved 27 February 2020, from https://www.cariboucoffee.com/coffee/
Nescafe (2020) Nescafe Gold Organic Retrieved 27 February, from https://www.nescafe.com/me/en-ae/our-coffees/nescafe-gold-organic
Mastermind Coffee (2020) Retrieved 27 February, from https://www.mastermindcoffee.com/