- Specialty coffee built its identity on values-led branding, reinforcing consumer alignment with ethics and sustainability
- 64% of consumers globally choose brands based on beliefs, but political polarisation is making positioning more complex
- Brands are recalibrating and shifting to more neutral, product-first strategies
Specialty coffee has historically positioned itself around progressive values, from sustainability to social issues and fair pay. Transparency, equity, and sustainability have not only shaped sourcing practices but also how brands communicate with consumers.
Over time, this values-led approach became central to the identity of the third wave. Coffee shops and roasters differentiated themselves not just by the quality of their coffee, but also by what they stood for.
However, many coffee brands are now adopting more neutral, product-first positioning, reflecting changing consumer behaviour and a more polarised political landscape. The shift is a recognition that in a more fragmented consumer landscape, overt positioning can limit reach.
Values-led or product-first?
The rise of specialty coffee coincided with broader growth in what researchers describe as “political consumerism” – where purchasing behaviour and decisions reflect social or political beliefs, acting as a political expression in the market.
This can take multiple forms, from boycotting brands to actively supporting those perceived to align with personal values.
Dr Eleftheria Lekakis is an Associate Professor at the University of Sussex, and has written extensively on coffee activism and consumer politics.
“As consumers, we are all conditioned with different levels of attachment to material culture,” she explains. “As conscious consumers, some develop social or political mindsets in consumption because of their social circles.”
This behaviour has become more visible in recent years. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 64% of consumers globally choose, switch, avoid, or boycott brands based on their beliefs.
This was part of the reason values-led branding became so prominent in specialty coffee. Communicating sustainability, ethics, and fairness was not only aligned with the product but also provided a competitive advantage over “commercial” brands.
However, as the market has matured, the role of such values-led branding has changed and become more complex. Dr Lekakis explains that, as such branding carries risks in a more polarised environment, more brands will likely play it safe.
“[Brands] lean on the social and political leanings of their consumer following and offer as much as is indicative of their caring and as little as is possible, so they don’t break the mould of public expectations (and thus raise questions about their actions or inactions),” she says.
Less proactive positioning
This shift toward more neutral positioning is also shaped by changing consumer dynamics. In practice, this means that while some consumers actively align purchases with their values, others do so inconsistently, or not at all.
“It is interesting, as consumers are mirroring the polarisation of political identities, and yet routinely buy things that are incongruous with their political beliefs,” Dr Lekakis says, reflecting on the fact that consumers who care strongly about the environment still purchase from brands with large carbon footprints and worker exploitation.
As a result, some brands are becoming more cautious in their communication. This change is not always driven by external pressure alone, as internal changes and structure may also influence how and what is communicated.
“When it is not at the heart of their business, brands can and do step back from propagating purpose, whether they are mindful of a changing political climate or face an internal shift and there is no longer committed political leadership,” Dr Lekakis explains.
“We are currently noticing a quiet withdrawal from purpose – whether it is because of the shifting of global political tectonic plates, or because it is no longer on trend.”
In this context, neutrality becomes less about avoiding values altogether and more about reducing the prominence of those values in outward communication.
Holding values but communicating less
For specialty coffee brands, the challenge is now not whether values matter, but how they are expressed.
In practice, many brands continue to invest in sustainability, sourcing relationships, and ethical practices. What is changing is how visible those efforts are in marketing and brand identity.
This reflects a broader adaptation toward product-first positioning. As specialty coffee continues to become more mainstream, quality, consistency, and experience may take precedence in how brands compete.
At the same time, the expectation to communicate purpose has not disappeared.
“Whatever we call the current wave of the digital age we are riding, it has necessitated that whatever corporate action is being undertaken, it needs to be communicated,” Dr Lekakis says.
“Brands have long been anthropomorphised, but in the last three decades they have become ‘new actors in development’, forging new alliances and changing the field of global social change.”
This creates a tension – where communicating “too much” can alienate consumers, and communicating too little can appear misaligned with the “specialty ethos”.
“It is not clear as to whether and how consumers interpret the distinction between corporate action and communication, but communicating purpose is certainly central for the popularity (or indeed unpopularity) of the brand.”
Balancing these forces is not straightforward. Coffee brands have a difficult balance to strike – some will continue to foreground values as a point of differentiation, while others will integrate those values more quietly, focusing on product and experience.
“From forging and maintaining respectful and just relationships with coffee producers to ensuring sustainable supply chains, global coffee trade is a changing picture where prices and competition rise,” Dr Lekakis says. “The need to appeal to a broad and diverse customer base might not be a priority for all brands, but in terms of authenticity, this will be of the least priority.”
The result is not a uniform shift toward neutrality, but a repositioning. In a more polarised and commercially competitive environment, neutrality is less a retreat and more a strategic adjustment.
As specialty coffee continues to mature, values are becoming baseline expectations rather than points of difference. The brands that succeed will be those that integrate them seamlessly – without relying on them as their sole identifying characteristic.
