- TikTok-fuelled “functional coffee” trends draw Gen Z with promises of better skin, energy, and gains
- 30% of consumers who take supplements opt for the powder format to improve their health without giving up their coffee
- Collagen, protein, and adaptogens seem to be the new sugar and cream
ONCE upon a time, people added milk and sugar to coffee. Now they’re adding spirulina, collagen peptides, adaptogens, protein powder, lion’s mane mushroom extract, maca root, and even raw egg yolks.
What began as a humble morning ritual has, in the age of TikTok and personal optimisation, turned into a wellness lab.
“Consumer tastes are changing,” says Emma Loisel, Co-Founder & Chair of Volcano Coffee Works. “Ten years ago, the focus was on origin, process, and rarity – a fascination with the craft and story behind the cup. There was a love of the ‘making of coffee,’ from crop to cup.”
“Today, the conversation is shifting toward function, driven by health trends asking: What more can coffee give me? Specialty coffee has been slow to respond. It rarely communicates the functional benefits coffee already offers – like the fact that it provides over two-thirds of the average Western diet’s daily antioxidant intake.”
The reasons vary. For some, it’s about improving taste – masking coffee’s natural bitterness with maple syrup and frothed coconut milk. For others, it’s about stacking benefits: caffeine plus cognitive support, beauty enhancement, or a post-gym protein fix.
On social media, particularly TikTok, “protein coffee” has become a viral trend. Videos tagged #proffee (protein + coffee) have clocked up hundreds of millions of views, either as a post-gym regimen or yet another dubious weight-loss hack.
This apparently runs deeper than just a one-off trend. According to a 2024 report from FMCG Gurus, “unnoticeable” supplements are on the rise, fitting seamlessly into everyday routines. These include powders that can dissolve in beverages like coffee, allowing consumers to incorporate them without adding complicated steps. For instance, 30% of consumers who take supplements opt for the powder format to improve their health. The $4.5 trillion global wellness economy – growing twice as fast as the global economy – is now so pervasive that for 73% of global consumers, wellness is now considered an essential element of a brand’s strategy.
Among under-30s, functional beverages are gaining traction, with coffee becoming just another delivery vehicle in a wider wellness regimen. This growing demand is especially driven by the younger demographics, such as Millennials and Gen Z, who prioritise self-care and holistic well-being. In fact, clean label products are out-performing other products with an 8% increase in the last year. As a result, the functional beverage market is experiencing a surge in popularity, with consumers actively seeking out drinks that align with their health goals and fit seamlessly into their busy lifestyles.
“I think the market really wants it – there’s definitely demand – but I haven’t personally tried it yet,” says Nicole Battefeld-Montgomery, Coffee Champion, trainer, and consultant. “To be honest, most of these kinds of products tend to have little to no real effect; they’re often more about the marketing than the substance. It feels like a money-making strategy more than a necessity. So while I get the hype, I’m still skeptical.”
Coffee shops are catching on. Brands like copina co and Headspace Coffee offer “collagen support creamers”, or “Adaptogenic Cappuccinos” spiked with ashwganda and lion’s mane. Others like Four Sigmatic have built entire businesses around mushroom-infused coffee. Functional coffee with probiotics is another pitch – with, apparently, the science to prove the wellness benefits.
Others online are challenging the “Beauty Latte” trend, and whether or not it’s good for you. This alone speaks volumes about its popularity – because where there are critics, there are trends to discredit.
“Functional coffee isn’t reshaping what coffee should be, it’s expanding what coffee CAN be,” says Darleen Scherer, Founder of BLACK SHEEP. “We’re watching coffee evolve from a singular morning ritual into a customisable wellness platform. The brands that succeed won’t be the ones cramming in every trending ingredient, but those who understand that today’s consumers want their daily coffee to work harder for them.”
“This isn’t a threat to specialty coffee; it’s an invitation to innovate. Just like we educated consumers about origin stories and processing methods, we now have the opportunity to guide them through functional benefits. The key is maintaining coffee quality while adding genuine value, not just riding wellness trends.”
But this remix culture raises questions. Is coffee still the point – or just the carrier? Is the base drink revered, or merely tolerated for its caffeine and cultural cachet? In the race for relevance among younger, more health-conscious drinkers, coffee is being reimagined not only for taste, but for utility.
Rituals, repurposed
Coffee’s identity has never been fixed. It began, after all, as a functional beverage – used by an abbot in an Ethiopian monastery, according to the legend of Kaldi, who struggled to stay awake during long evening prayers and found the drink made with the cherries kept him alert.
This quality has stood the test of time. A recent survey of over 8,000 respondents from six European countries revealed that coffee was the drink most closely associated with productivity, with 43% saying it improved their productivity over other caffeinated and non-caffeinated options.
Following its initial discovery, coffee became social: fuelling the Enlightenment in European coffeehouses, and marking hospitality across the Middle East.
The 20th century brought new forms of addition. Americans added creamer and invented the Frappuccino. Italians frothed milk into cappuccinos. The Vietnamese added condensed milk and ice. Scandinavian countries added cardamom, and in some parts of Ethiopia, they mixed in butter or salt. Every addition was a reflection of taste, context, or necessity.
“Coffee is kind of timeless,” says Nicole. “It’s not just a drink – it’s a ritual, a culture, a conversation starter. From the Italian espresso bar to the American diner, the Turkish coffee ceremony to the Japanese kissaten, coffee has a deeply rooted presence across cultures. Trends may come and go – adaptogens, mushroom lattes, cold foam everything – but coffee evolves without ever really fading.”
What unites these shifts is that the coffee stayed. The ritual, hot or cold, bitter or sweet, remained a shared, often daily, anchor. Even when trends like turmeric lattes or kombucha surged, few fully displaced coffee as a beverage. The reasons are manifold. Coffee provides caffeine, but also routine and familiarity. It is both a stimulant and a symbol.
“Coffee drinking is a ritualistic moment of pause, like taking a deep breath before the day begins,” says Emma. “It’s a grounding habit. New ingredients might evolve what’s in the cup, but they won’t change the core ritual that coffee is built on.”
A 2023 YouGov survey found that 71% of Americans associated coffee with “comfort.” In Italy, 97% of adults reportedly drink coffee several times daily, and espresso remains a cultural constant even as oat milk enters the scene. In Turkey, coffee remains entwined with tradition, fortune-telling, and hospitality, even as instant sachets flood the market.
“Coffee endures because it’s never really been about caffeine only, it’s about the pause,” says Darleen. “Every culture has protected that sacred moment of transition: from sleep to wake, from home to work, from solitude to connection. We can add collagen, swap milk for oat, or serve it sparkling, but we’re not changing coffee’s core job: creating intentional moments in increasingly chaotic days.”
“The genius of coffee is its adaptability without losing identity. A Vietnamese cà phê sữa đá and an Italian espresso couldn’t be more different, yet both serve the same human need for ritual and community. That’s why coffee survives every trend. It’s infrastructure for human connection, not just a beverage.”
In this sense, coffee is both resilient and malleable. It adapts without disappearing. It absorbs trends, but doesn’t bow to them entirely.
What happens when the base beverage fades?
And yet, change is happening. In the US, daily coffee consumption among Gen Z lags behind that of older cohorts. Tea – particularly matcha and its roasted cousin, hojicha – is catching up.
The global market for matcha was valued around $2–3 billion a few years ago and is reportedly on track to double in the coming decade. New products continue to flood both cafés and grocery aisles.
“I don’t see matcha as a coffee substitute – it serves a different purpose,” says Emma. “It offers consumers benefits like visual appeal for social media, and acts as a delivery mechanism for sugar. That appeals to younger consumers who haven’t yet developed a taste for coffee. In many ways, matcha is the antithesis of coffee: bright colours vs browns, sweet vs bitter.”
“But Matcha is also a bellwether for how specialty cafés must evolve. To stay relevant, cafés need to attract a broader customer base and drive higher spend per visit. That shift will be essential to the future success of the coffee shop model.”
Many coffee brands and coffee shops are jumping on the matcha bandwagon, not necessarily switching products to retain clientele, but including new trends to keep new generations interested in coffee.
“I actually think matcha might increase coffee consumption,” says Nicole. “It brings in a different crowd – people who might not typically step into a coffee shop – and once they’re there, they’re exposed to the full range of offerings.”
“Drinks like matcha or chai are often gateway experiences. Over time, they might branch out and try a flat white or a cold brew. These non-coffee drinks are often a soft entry into the broader world of coffee.”
Meanwhile, the latest European Coffee Federation report notes that coffee consumption in the EU27 has remained flat at 1.74 million tonnes from 2021–2023. In the UK, green coffee imports fell by 9.1% in 2023. In other words: for mature markets, coffee may be approaching cultural saturation.
“Coffee isn’t losing cultural dominance, it’s sharing the stage, and that’s healthy,” says Darleen. “When matcha gained traction, it didn’t kill coffee; it educated consumers about mindful consumption and opened doors for our own specialty segment. Competition forces evolution.”
“The real question isn’t whether coffee maintains dominance, but whether coffee brands stay relevant. The ones still trying to be everything to everyone will struggle. But brands that own their lane – whether that’s exceptional quality, functional benefits, or community connection – will thrive. Coffee’s ‘stagnation’ in some regions is market maturation. We’re moving from volume to value, from habit to choice. That’s not erosion. That’s elevation.”
Coffee’s entrenched place in routines, offices, and identities is hard to replicate. Even as the medium evolves, the brand of coffee – its taste, its kick, its ritual – remains a cultural shorthand for adulthood, productivity, and pause.
Yet, it must evolve to stay relevant. While older generations may scoff at protein-infused “proffee,” they also once laughed at cold brew, and cold coffee is now becoming a billion dollar category. The difference today is that coffee is entering a more competitive arena, where every beverage wants to be our morning pick-me-up, our afternoon reset, and our Instagram story.
More additions, powders, and functional ingredients will likely form part of coffee’s future. Coffee may cease to be sacred for many, or even most – but it will remain useful. Because while we may keep adding things to coffee, we haven’t yet found a reason compelling enough to replace it.
Coffee Intelligence
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