Overall coffee consumption in the US jumped by 5 per cent in the last 12 months, according to the latest National Coffee Association (NCA) National Coffee Drinking Trends (NCDT) market research study, preliminary results from which were published at the NCA convention in San Francisco in March.
“With this increase, 83 per cent of the US adult population now drinks coffee,” said the NCA. “At the same time, daily consumption remained strong and steady at 63 per cent, while those who drink coffee at least once per week was up slightly to 75 per cent.
Past-day coffee consumption among Hispanic-Americans again outpaced that of other Americans, further affirming data identified last year when NCA began tracking ethnic consumption. Seventy-six per cent of adult Hispanic-Americans said they drank coffee yesterday, 13 per cent ahead of the total population. In comparison, 47 per cent of African-Americans and 64 per cent of Caucasian-Americans said they drank coffee yesterday.
The NCDT survey also showed that the single-cup brewing format continues to grow steadily: 13 per cent of the US population drank a coffee made in a single-cup brewer yesterday. This is up from just 4 per cent in 2010. By contrast, past-day consumption of a coffee made in a drip coffee maker has dropped to 37 per cent from 43 per cent over the same period. Awareness of single-cup brewers reached 82 per cent, up by 11 points from last year, while ownership has grown to 12 per cent from 10 per cent last year.
Consumption of gourmet coffee beverages remained steady, with nearly one third (31 per cent) of the population partaking each day. At the same time, consumption of traditional coffee was off by seven percentage points to 49 per cent compared with 56 per cent in 2012.
Among Hispanic-Americans, past-day consumption of gourmet coffee beverages comfortably exceeded that of other groups at 44 per cent versus 30 per cent for Caucasian-Americans and 25 per cent among African-Americans. The differential carried through when gourmet coffee beverages were broken out into its components: for espresso-based beverages the corresponding breakout was 24 per cent among Hispanic-Americans; 10 per cent among Caucasian-Americans; and 12 per cent among African-Americans; while for gourmet varieties of traditional coffee, 23 per cent among Hispanic-Americans, 20 per cent among Caucasian-Americans and 13 per cent among African-Americans.
Younger consumers also showed more affinity for espresso-based beverages than their elders, with 16 per cent of those 18-39 drinking them in the past day compared with just 6 per cent of those 60+. However, overall daily consumption of coffee by younger consumers appears to have dropped. Among those 18-24, daily overall coffee consumption fell to 41 per cent from 50 per cent last year, and for those 25-39 to 59 per cent from 63 per cent. However, the 2013 figures are more consistent with levels in earlier years, suggesting that this year’s decline indicates volatility in these segments rather than softening. Conversely, overall daily consumption of coffee among those 60+ rose to 76 per cent from 71 per cent last year, and for those 40-59 to 69 per cent from 65 per cent in 2012.
The NCA said the 60+ group appears to favour gourmet varieties of traditional coffee, with daily consumption up to 24 per cent from 19 per cent last year. For those 25-39, conversely, the corresponding figures dropped to 18 per cent from 26 per cent last year. For non-gourmet traditional coffee, daily consumption remained essentially steady for those 60+, but fell among those 18-24, moving from 27 per cent to 17 per cent this year.
