Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Five cents of every food and drink dollar is spent on coffee

Drinking trends and K-Cups pondered at National Coffee Association Convention

Everyone from Millennials to Baby Boomers are drinking more coffee
Everyone from Millennials to Baby Boomers are drinking more coffee

This year, the National Coffee Association held its annual convention at the Hotel Del Coronado. The March 17-19 event drew hundreds of coffee industry execs to network, market roasting and packaging equipment, and attend talks from the likes of former RNC Chairman Michael Steele and decorated former Navy Seal Jason Redman.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The NCA also delivered reports on consumer trends and the overall economic impact of the coffee industry in 2015. That number was set at $225.3 billion nationwide, including direct coffee industry sales and indirect spending by employees of the coffee industry. That compares to $253 billion total impact of beer and $156 billion for bottled water.

Coffee accounted for 1.3% of the total 2015 GDP — $17.9 trillion. Coffee employed over 940,000 people at $21.7 billion in wages. It was additionally credited with creating another 760,000 jobs downstream, contributing to an overall $28 billion in tax receipts.

This stemmed from $74.2 billion in consumer spending, which represented 5.3% of total food and beverage retail at $1.4 trillion. So five cents of every food and drink dollar spent by consumers went to coffee, 84% of that at the service level.

Trend analysts reported that daily consumption of espresso-based beverages has nearly tripled since 2008, leading an overall growth of gourmet coffee sales in that timespan from 24% to 31% of total coffee consumption, a number that's held steady the past several years. That number includes the nearly three dozen mostly gourmet coffee roasters operating in San Diego. The remaining 69% incorporates most packaged coffee on grocery shelves, coffee sold at convenience stores, fast food restaurants, and most donut shops.

Millennials are driving gourmet coffee growth, with more than twice as many under-40 consumers buying in that category compared to 2008. Meanwhile, Baby Boomers and other over-60 consumers drink more coffee on the whole.

That would include single-cup brewing systems. Ownership of the automated systems that make individual portions of coffee using a disposable K-Cup, has quadrupled in the past five years. Currently, 28% of coffee drinkers report using single cup brewers, up from only 9% in 2011. In that time, use of traditional drip brewers has fallen from 70% to only 50%.

Single-cup brewers have come under fire for the huge amounts of pollution they produce, with an Atlantic article last year reporting that enough tiny plastic K-Cups were used in 2014 to circle the planet more than ten times over. The NCA reports ownership of such machines have doubled since 2014.

A couple of packaging companies present on the convention's trade-show floor aimed to remedy this issue, marketing 97-100% biodegradable K-Cups and other coffee packaging. Another exhibitor offered a chemical solution promising to help retain the flavor of brewed coffee sitting on heaters.

Though the commodity scale of the NCA participants offered little of value to San Diego's community of microroasters, a rep for Unic espresso machines lauded the growth of the local market, and made a point of offering local coffee to demonstrate his products.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Everyone from Millennials to Baby Boomers are drinking more coffee
Everyone from Millennials to Baby Boomers are drinking more coffee

This year, the National Coffee Association held its annual convention at the Hotel Del Coronado. The March 17-19 event drew hundreds of coffee industry execs to network, market roasting and packaging equipment, and attend talks from the likes of former RNC Chairman Michael Steele and decorated former Navy Seal Jason Redman.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The NCA also delivered reports on consumer trends and the overall economic impact of the coffee industry in 2015. That number was set at $225.3 billion nationwide, including direct coffee industry sales and indirect spending by employees of the coffee industry. That compares to $253 billion total impact of beer and $156 billion for bottled water.

Coffee accounted for 1.3% of the total 2015 GDP — $17.9 trillion. Coffee employed over 940,000 people at $21.7 billion in wages. It was additionally credited with creating another 760,000 jobs downstream, contributing to an overall $28 billion in tax receipts.

This stemmed from $74.2 billion in consumer spending, which represented 5.3% of total food and beverage retail at $1.4 trillion. So five cents of every food and drink dollar spent by consumers went to coffee, 84% of that at the service level.

Trend analysts reported that daily consumption of espresso-based beverages has nearly tripled since 2008, leading an overall growth of gourmet coffee sales in that timespan from 24% to 31% of total coffee consumption, a number that's held steady the past several years. That number includes the nearly three dozen mostly gourmet coffee roasters operating in San Diego. The remaining 69% incorporates most packaged coffee on grocery shelves, coffee sold at convenience stores, fast food restaurants, and most donut shops.

Millennials are driving gourmet coffee growth, with more than twice as many under-40 consumers buying in that category compared to 2008. Meanwhile, Baby Boomers and other over-60 consumers drink more coffee on the whole.

That would include single-cup brewing systems. Ownership of the automated systems that make individual portions of coffee using a disposable K-Cup, has quadrupled in the past five years. Currently, 28% of coffee drinkers report using single cup brewers, up from only 9% in 2011. In that time, use of traditional drip brewers has fallen from 70% to only 50%.

Single-cup brewers have come under fire for the huge amounts of pollution they produce, with an Atlantic article last year reporting that enough tiny plastic K-Cups were used in 2014 to circle the planet more than ten times over. The NCA reports ownership of such machines have doubled since 2014.

A couple of packaging companies present on the convention's trade-show floor aimed to remedy this issue, marketing 97-100% biodegradable K-Cups and other coffee packaging. Another exhibitor offered a chemical solution promising to help retain the flavor of brewed coffee sitting on heaters.

Though the commodity scale of the NCA participants offered little of value to San Diego's community of microroasters, a rep for Unic espresso machines lauded the growth of the local market, and made a point of offering local coffee to demonstrate his products.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Downtown thrift shop offers three bands in one show

Come nightfall, Humble Heart hosts The Beat
Next Article

Woodpeckers are stocking away acorns, Amorous tarantulas

Stunning sycamores, Mars rising
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader