Consumption & Trends
Infused and co-fermented coffees have shifted from being novel to prominent within specialty coffee, offering highly distinctive and immediately recognisable flavour profiles.
Many coffee brands are now adopting more neutral, product-first positioning, reflecting changing consumer behaviour and a more polarised political landscape.
Chinese coffee chains are expanding into Europe with their low-price, high-efficiency model, causing market segmentation.
Specialty coffee menus are becoming increasingly complex, but how can coffee shops give consumers the information they need without overwhelming them?
While craft has always been the driving force in specialty coffee, the new focus on efficiency and quick service could change the landscape.
For producers to stand out in the specialty coffee market, authenticity is becoming even more important – especially on digital platforms.
In the past three years, matcha has become a very popular Gen Z drink – but will it remain this popular forever, and how can coffee shops adapt?
Products like plant milks and "functional" RTDs are emerging fast – but should coffee businesses adapt to these trends or incorporate them into their existing strategy?
More coffee businesses than ever are diversifying their product range with matcha and ready-to-drink formats – but the investment can be risky as trends come and go.
Specialty coffee bags often promise radical difference – woman-owned, regenerative, youth-led, competition grade – yet the coffee beans often come from the same farms, the same harvests, sometimes even the same lots. Coffee sells itself as endlessly particular. The reality is more convergent. Over 40% of coffee consumers say ethical or environmental claims influence their purchases. The same lot can be positioned differently depending on who is buying.
For years, the coffee bar has been a testing ground for consumer habits. Plant milks, WiFi, iced drinks, matcha, drive-thru, and mobile ordering are just some of the trends we’ve seen. Now – and largely since the pandemic – cafés are navigating another shift: the move toward cashless payments. More shops are putting up “card only” signs, citing speed, hygiene and safety. Cash is fading fast – in Europe it’s fallen from 79% to 59% of in-store payments, with cashless transactions set to triple by 2030. Handling notes can eat up 4-15% per transaction, making card-only a good business option. But even as cafés digitise, 3% of UK adults remain cash-dependent.
Coffee is a complex beverage that has long been associated with both functionality and ritual, productivity and connection, caffeine kick and flavour notes. It follows that, depending on culture, context and economic moment, expectations of both the drink and the spaces that serve it continually oscillate – cycling between convenience and the pursuit of a more meaningful experience. Drive-through chains like Dutch Bros continue to grow as consumers prioritise convenience. But connection still matters to coffee consumers. A survey highlights that 94% of consumers say companies that build authentic human connection gain a long-term competitive edge.
In public discourse, “supporting local” is cast as a moral act. It conjures images of farmers’ markets, family-run cafés and handmade bread purchased for the greater good. The implication is sacrifice: you pay a little more, convenience slips a little, but virtue is preserved. “Buy local” or “woman-owned” is no longer just virtuous – it’s strategic. Airports, hotels, and corporates are using local brands to tick sustainability boxes. US supplier diversity rules now make sustainability a contract-winning advantage.
For much of the past decade, specialty coffee’s promise was simple: better coffee, better brewing, and better ethics. A flat white made with traceable origins and a calibrated grinder was enough to signal taste and virtue– but that is no longer the case. Specialty coffee shops are adding bakeries, florists, and craft retail to lift spend and loyalty. During the pandemic, shoppers reported support for small farms rising nearly 1.5× more than any other value, and that preference has endured. Artisan bakery sales outpaced standard bread in 2023–24, showing demand for slower, skill-heavy production over convenience.
For centuries, coffee was the world’s productivity fuel. The “coffee break,” formalised in American factories in the early 20th century, was designed to keep workers alert and assembly lines moving. Energy drinks are booming, with Monster reporting record sales in 2025 reaching just over $2bn. Young consumers are shifting away from pricey coffee toward faster, stronger caffeine, and major coffee brands want in, launching caffeine hybrids and RTD lines.
Indonesia has long been known as one of the world’s great coffee origins. Increasingly, it is becoming one of its largest consumers. Indonesia’s coffee consumption has tripled since before the pandemic, making it the world’s fifth-largest coffee consumer. A boom in RTD, mobile takeaway orders and “grab-to-go” kiosks has pushed demand. As Indonesia becomes both a major producer and drinker, it offers a blueprint for other origins driving domestic consumption.
The specialty-coffee trade has long prized human judgment – producers’, green buyers’, roasters’, baristas’. Now algorithms are edging their way in. From cupping tables to espresso bars, algorithms now grade, roast, and brew – promising consistency and cutting waste. At the same time, AI also raises fears of homogenised flavour and lost craft. Studies show AI could outperform humans in 50% of tasks by 2068 – but specialty coffee relies on a strong human component.
For decades, specialty coffee drinkers have prided themselves on purity: varietal, altitude and terroir expressed with minimal intervention. Many competition coffees now show adjunct-driven aromatics once labelled as “flavoured." 75% of young coffee drinkers in the UK opt for flavoured syrups. Why are some methods of flavour manipulation acceptable, but others considered inferior – and who decides?
For years, large coffee conglomerates courted credibility by acquiring smaller specialty roasters. Big roasters are launching their own “indie” specialty brands instead of buying them, a shift led by giants like UCC, Lavazza, and Farmer Brothers. Nestlé acquired Blue Bottle in 2017 at a $700m valuation. Building micro-brands in-house avoids messy acquisitions, giving corporations mimicked authenticity at a fraction of the cost.
Coffee may bring customers through the door, but food has been increasingly paying the bills. Across America and Europe, coffee shops have bulked up their menus with salads, wraps and hot meals in a bid to shore up margins. The strategy has paid off so far, but suddenly seems less straightforward. In 2024, food contributed 23% of the chain’s total sales – or $6.7 billion – underscoring its growing role. Sandwiches boost ticket sizes, but staff, waste and slower service complicate the arithmetic.
