The National Coffee Association released the latest edition of their National Coffee Data Trends (NCDT) report, their twice annual look at coffee consumption in the United States, by the numbers.
For the fall report, the NCDT finds many previous trends continuing to hold steady. Past-day consumption of coffee in adults holds strong at 66%, with a majority of that, 83% in total, coming at home. And true to its upward trajectory, specialty coffee is now more popular with Americans than traditional coffee; a record 48% of individuals reported having specialty coffee in the past day.
But there’s a new key trend emerging and it deals with how folks are getting their coffee away from home. Drive-thru and app-based ordering are dominating.
According to the NCTD finding, “55% of past-week out-of-home coffee buyers ordered at a drive-thru, and a record high of 40% ordered on an app.” Taken at face value, that means over nine out of every 10 people who got coffee out of home used a drive-thru or app at least once. Which is frankly a little hard to believe. Even if you assume every person who ordered non-specialty coffee used an app or drive-thru, that still leave a significant chunk of specialty folks who did the same.
In many ways it make sense. Specialty coffee’s fight for legitimacy has mostly been won—barista isn’t a stand-in jab for Millennial punching bag anymore—and the industry has turned towards convenience and accessibility. These systems allow specialty coffee to meet people where they are. Which is often in a hurry.
And yet a part of me still hates it. Coffee doesn’t need to be this precious thing that everyone sits around in silent reverence, parsing out the smallest flavor details. It is that also but that’s not all it is. At its best, for me anyway, coffee is a lot like a nice coat. Something well-made and appreciated for its craft, whose appreciation is expressed in its everyday use. Something you look forward to putting on. A small joy day in and day out.
Apps, drive-thrus, they’re fine but they aren’t ideal expressions of coffee. There is a shelf life to coffee beverages and the clock starts ticking at soon as they are made. Sitting around waiting to be picked up is not a drink at its best. And in this way, apps and drive-thrus place value on convenience to the detriment of quality. (The real sweet spot is making quality coffee as conveniently as possible, not the other way around.)
Maybe they’re a necessary evil. They allow shops to stay afloat by catering to the convenience-minded so that the quality-first folks can reap the benefits. Or maybe I’m the one not letting coffee be all that it actually is, which can include a vehicle for caffeine. Nonetheless I can’t shake the feeling that the pendulum is swinging too far in the other direction and the wider net, the convenience-over-everything mindset is diluting specialty coffee. Too diluted and it won’t be any different than the commodity coffee it was created as a response to. And so then what’s even the point of paying extra for specialty when it’s all the same?
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
