The National Coffee Association (NCA) has published its 2013 National Coffee Drinking Trends market research report, which reveals that 83 percent of American adults drink coffee, a five percent increase from last year. The new report, part of the NCA Market Research Series, also shows that Hispanic-Americans continue to outpace consumption levels among other ethnic groups and that the single-cup segment continues to grow exponentially.
"American coffee consumption continues to grow as consumers respond to variety and convenience," said Robert F. Nelson, NCA president and CEO, in a prepared statement. "Building on existing market enthusiasm, changing U.S. demographics and single-cup brewing may be adding momentum to already enthusiastic consumer engagement."
Past-day coffee consumption among Hispanic-Americans again outpaced that of other Americans, further affirming data identified last year when NCA enhanced its ethnic sampling to mirror U.S. demographics. Seventy-six percent of adult Hispanic-Americans said they drank coffee yesterday, 13 percent ahead of the total population. By comparison, 47 percent of African-Americans and 64 percent of Caucasian-Americans said they drank coffee yesterday.
In other NCDT data, the single-cup brewing format continues to grow dramatically — 12 percent of American adults said they now own a single-cup brewer, up from 10 percent last year and 7 percent in 2011. Awareness of single-cup brewers reached 82 percent, up from 71 percent last year.
Gourmet Coffee
The new report also revealed that nearly one in three (31 percent) drank a gourmet coffee beverage yesterday. At the same time, consumption of traditional coffee was off by seven percent to 49 percent versus 56 percent in 2012.
In gourmet coffee consumption, Hispanic-Americans also outpaced other ethnic groups. Past-day consumption of gourmet coffee beverages was significantly higher than that of other groups at 44 percent versus 30 percent for Caucasian-Americans and 25 percent among African-Americans. The differential also held across gourmet coffee beverage options: for espresso-based beverages the corresponding breakout was 24 percent among Hispanic-Americans, 10 percent among Caucasian-Americans and 12 percent among African-Americans, while for gourmet varieties of traditional coffee, 23 percent among Hispanic-Americans, 20 percent among Caucasian-Americans and 13 percent among African-Americans.
Volatile Youth
Younger consumers also showed more affinity for espresso-based beverages than other age groups, with 16 percent of those 18 to 39 drinking them in the past day compared with just 6 percent of those 60+. Overall daily consumption of coffee by younger consumers, however, appears to have fallen. Among the 18 to 24 group, daily overall coffee consumption fell to 41 percent from 50 percent last year, and for those 25 to 39 to 59 percent from 63 percent. However, the 2013 levels are more on par with earlier years, suggesting that the apparent decline indicates volatility in these segments rather than softening. Conversely, overall daily consumption of coffee among those 60-plus rose to 76 percent from 71 percent in 2012, and for those 40 to 59 years old to 69 percent from 65 percent last year.
Expanding the analysis, the 60-plus cohort seems to favor gourmet varieties of traditional coffee, with daily consumption up to 24 percent from 19 percent in 2012. For the 25 to 39 group, on the other hand, the corresponding figures dropped to 18 percent from 26 percent last year. For non-gourmet traditional coffee, daily consumption was essentially steady for those 60-plus, but softened among those 18 to 24, moving from 27 percent to 17 percent this year.
