Over the last couple of decades, Kiwis have fallen in love with coffee; suffice to say, our country has more roasters per capita than anywhere in the world. Our love of coffee has its roots in the late eighteen hundreds, 1889 to be precise, when Invercargill-based David Strang applied for a patent for his ‘soluble coffee powder’. Some believe Strang's was the first-ever commercial instant coffee, although those were pioneering times, and halfway across the world Frenchman Alphonse Allais had patented a similar product in 1881.
Today, New Zealanders drink on average 0.94 cups per day, ranking among the top 20 consumers in the world. And it’s a competitive industry, with at least 200 coffee roasters making their mark. If they want to continue to drive sales upward, however, they need to be able to evolve, and looking at the latest coffee trends can provide some helpful inspiration.
Once again, the first and foremost trend is the Millennials’ focus on experience rather than price. There are many ways coffee manufacturers can capitalise on this trend, for example by investing in eye-catching, ‘shareable’ packaging; experimenting with new packaging and delivery systems; or showcasing the brand’s commitment to sustainability.
Shoppers are also consuming more gourmet and specialty coffee beverages, opening new opportunities even for brands that have not traditionally operated in the specialty space.
A third global trend is the rise of the canned and bottled ready-to-drink coffee market, fuelled by consumers’ lack of time. In the US, an increasing number of in-store cafés are offering nitrogen-infused coffee, in a bid to attract coffee drinkers in their supermarkets. Poured from a tap, nitrogenated cold brew coffee has a foamy and creamy texture that is difficult, but certainly not impossible, to replicate in an RTD format. A famous Portland-based roaster, Stumptown Coffee, released its own Nitro Canned Cold Brew in 2015.
On a global level, cold brew coffee is performing very well, and retail brands are keen to add cold brew products to their range.
COFFEE FACTS
- Worth over $100 billion, coffee is the world’s second most valuable commodity behind petrol, being more valuable than natural gas and gold.
- Coffee farms globally employ 25 million people in around 70 countries.
- The world consumes close to 2.25 billion cups of coffee every day.
- The word "coffee" comes from the Arabic for "wine of the bean".
