Consumers embrace craft coffee culture

Analysing over 186 million social media posts referencing coffee over the course of two years, Foresight Factory, the consumer analytics company specialising in trends, has identified the key trends of the coffee market for 2017.

The findings, in its latest social media listening report, reveal a consumer base that increasingly embraces a craft culture around the beverage, while novel consumption occasions are also beginning to emerge.

Two prominent trends which reflect this growing perception of coffee as a ‘craft beverage’ are the increasing ‘Instagrammability’ of the drink and the increasing status of the barista.

Over 18 million – almost one in ten – of the social media posts that Foresight Factory analysed were images or conversation about images of ‘photogenic’, visually attractive coffee. Moreover, this trend has seen huge growth over the period of the period, with 4,446% growth in these kinds of posts. Meanwhile, a smaller trend is the rise of ‘celebrity baristas’ on social media, who showcase their technical and creative coffee-making skills to a burgeoning audience.

While coffee is gaining craft status, consumers are also increasingly drinking it beyond its conventional consumption occasions. A growing association is with health and fitness – this is not only leading to the emergence of the pre-workout coffee, which has seen a growth in social media mentions of 84%, but also the appearance of the free from cold brew, which taps into a growing desire to cut dairy and sugar.

Laura Dennehy, head of content solutions at Foresight Factory, comments, “The growth of cold brews correlates to a wider development, where coffee is becoming incorporated into the fitness and healthy living trend as a pre-workout drink. The inception of protein coffee demonstrates how this represents an opportunity for new product development.”

Dennhey concludes by speaking about the potential business value of these insights, “These findings offer inspiration for all kinds of opportunities to tap into consumers’ consumption habits and their attitude to the drink for commercial advantage.

“For example, paying attention to the aesthetic qualities of the packaging and the drink itself taps into consumer desire for ‘photogenic’ coffee.

“The over-arching narrative of a more ‘craft’ perception of the drink should yield different approaches to the market, with potential for partnerships with food and hospitality companies and a distinct approach to marketing.

“Regardless, the report reflects the fact that it’s a very intriguing time to be involved with coffee, whether as a consumer or as a business person.”

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