Key Coffee Trends For 2022

After the last eighteen months, we’re all hoping for a smooth transition back to normality. But here at Indigo Valley Coffee, we’re trying to work out what normal looks like now? Covid-19 has thrown a curveball to small and large businesses, with new consumer trends emerging and behaviours irreversibly changing.

How does that relate to coffee? Well, as the world opens post pandemic, new consumer attitudes towards coffee purchase and consumption are developing. Coffee lovers and manufacturers are finding new ways to source, produce, sell, and consume this popular beverage. Here are just a few of the exciting trends that we’re expecting to gain momentum over the next few months.

1. Craft Coffee Delivered Direct To Your Door

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an increased consumer appetite for coffee subscription services, offering a way for us all to conveniently enjoy the best high-quality coffee in the comfort of our own home. Not only do coffee subscription services and coffee deliveries offer a great way to savour the best craft coffee at home, but they enable coffee connoisseurs to try new coffee roasts, flavours, and blends from across the world. Even better, most subscriptions are totally flexible, offering easy pause options and letting you choose how much and how often you’d like your deliveries. One of the biggest benefits of a coffee subscription is convenience, with delivery direct to your door often in sustainable packaging that can be popped straight through your letterbox. Whether it’s a treat for you or a thoughtful gift for a coffee-loving friend, a coffee subscription gift is the perfect gift that keeps on giving. Check out our Indigo Valley Sustainable Coffee subscriptions.

2. More Ethical Coffee Anyone?

As consumer demand for convenience grows, so too does the desire for sustainable coffee. Consumers are becoming more conscious of the origin of products and are demanding total transparency behind how their coffee reaches them so they can make informed purchase decisions that do not adversely impact the environment.  

While we’ve all have had to adapt and take a slight step back in terms of accepting some single-use plastic for items like facemasks during Covid-19, people want to know where their food and drink comes from and sourcing the best coffee in the world is no exception. We see a growing demand to know where coffee comes from and how ethically, environmentally, and socially conscious the parties involved in producing and supplying it are. How is it grown, how is it harvested and are the growers paid an ethical and fair price for what they produce? As an ethical coffee company, Indigo Valley Coffee is happy to see consumers putting more pressure on coffee companies to prove their ethical credentials. Coffee drinkers now want eco-friendly coffee that comes in sustainable packaging. We want to know we can trust their coffee purchase and the ethical journey it takes before arriving at our coffee cup

3. Supporting Local Cafes and Shops

With multiple lockdowns severely impacting the hospitality industry, countless cafes, restaurants, and bars closed for extended periods and suffered significant financial challenges. As society readjusts, we predict a continued desire to shop local, support local cafes and favour local produce. According to one national survey, visiting coffee shops and other similar places was one of the things we all missed most during lockdown, second only to seeing family and friends.

The coffee shop has become part of the fabric of our society, with millions of us enjoying a coffee shop treat over lunch or throughout the day. With many of us desperate to re-engage in the social dynamic that coffee shops offer, this craving for social interaction, coupled with a wish to shop local, means that support for shops closer to home is deeper than ever. Local coffee shops have historically been social hubs for community. We will see a continued trend towards more of us investing in our own communities.

3. Healthy Coffee Drinks

More consumers are now aspiring to a healthy lifestyle and coffee offers a natural option that delivers a wide range of health benefits from increasing energy levels to helping to burn fat to offering essential nutrients. Not only is coffee a healthy drink, but we’re now seeing huge take up of products like almond milk, oat milk and rice milk too. As the trend for a healthier way of life continues, coffee can be a healthy addition to our daily diet. The rise of products like turmeric coffee mean that café menu options are getting even more diverse. Cold coffee options are also healthy alternatives to fizzy drinks. Healthy coffees will continue to grow in popularity as consumers continue to look for ways to consume healthier products, reduce fat and sugar in their diet and improve gut health.

4.  Third-Wave Coffee and Speciality Coffee

Have you heard of the term “third-wave coffee”? Third-wave coffee is a term given to businesses whose mission is to deliver high quality coffee that is recognised as a wonderful artisan drink, like wine, that can be enjoyed as an experience. Third-wave coffee encompasses high-quality speciality roasts, innovative brewing methods and product origin information that works in conjunction with ethical, environmental, and social credentials. Third-wave coffee is about ensuring the sustainable coffee that consumers experience goes through an ethical supply chain process to ultimately result in a superior-quality coffee product, so the consumer gets the best coffee they can.

Coffee has been a hugely popular drink for a long time and will continue to grow its appeal with new audiences as more convenient ways to consume it emerge and an increasing variety of speciality coffee blends and flavours are launched. With increased choice, more convenience, and evidence of the health benefits of this wonder drink, what are you waiting for? Pour yourself a cup of coffee and savour the flavours of your favourite blend. Even better, try one of the different blends available from Indigo Valley Coffee and let us know your favourite.