How is coffee creating a buzz in the UK?
It’s safe to say, coffee is one of the most popular drinks across the world. In the UK alone, we drink approximately 98 million cups of coffee per day! But with soaring consumer demand, comes heaps of innovation – and the coffee industry is no exception. From specialty roasts to mushroom and CBD coffee, here we explore the history, production, and trends popping up in this thriving market.
The coffee house boom
The first coffee house opened in 1550 in Constantinople and in the 17th century, cafés and coffee houses opened widely across Italy, France, Germany and England. It’s known that the first coffee was brought over from Turkey – by a Greek servant named Pasqua Rosee, who set up a stall in Cornhill, St. Paul’s, which turned out to be extremely popular – causing a 17th century coffee house boom. Today there are 7,427 Cafes & Coffee Shops businesses in the UK, an increase of 0.5% from 2021.
Coffee giants like Starbucks brought coffee-drinking into the mainstream. The use of interesting new flavoured syrups, blended with ice and topped with cream was a way to attract a younger customer base. Getting a coffee soon became much more of a social experience, as customers wanted to stay longer, get a snack, and sit in a soft comfortable chair surrounded by like-minded people.
The industry seemed to change again when hipsters brought back artisanal coffee, artistic cafés, and certified barista’s who live and breathe everything coffee and the experience it brings to social settings. Plus, the sudden surge in remote workers helped coffee shops and cafés not only become a place to socialise on weekends, but a place of work during the week.
Coffee with a conscience
Although it feels extremely accessible, coffee is a difficult plant to grow. Most of the world’s coffee is grown in Brazil because of the ideal climate conditions. However, during the pandemic Brazil had unexpected frosts across the land, damaging the coffee crops, which made the price of coffee soar. Aside from issues with growing, another threat to our coffee consumption could be rising temperatures – which according to research may reduce the areas prime for growing coffee by 50 %.
Consumers are becoming much more interested in the origin of their coffee, especially as the social and environmental factors – and the ethics of coffee production for farmers – are becoming much more prevalent. Not only this, but waste and sustainability are key areas to consider when running a coffee shop. In the last few years, consumers have become aware of the impact of their single use coffee cups – its recorded that only one out of every 400 coffee cups are actually recycled – this spurred on the refill generation, which unfortunately came to a halt when the pandemic hit. Luckily brands are taking note, and according to research from Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), nearly half (48%) of all new coffee product launches in 2020 carried an ethical or environmental claim.
Coffee trends in 2022
There are a few recent coffee trends we want to touch on, firstly CBD coffee has grown in popularity which is no surprise since the growth of the CBD industry has boomed in the past four years. There is a variety of caffeinated cannabidoil drinks on the market, they come in the form of infused coffee beans, pre-canned cold brews, CBD oil to drop into your latte, and coffee pods to use at home.
Another trend worth mentioning is alternative milks, which at first were mainly used by climate conscious consumers and people wanting to avoid dairy. The World Coffee Portal says “Oat has long been revered by specialty coffee professionals as the optimum replacement for dairy milk in coffee beverages.” Alternative milk drinks have developed to blend perfectly with coffee with brands making ‘barista style’ alternative milks, designed to froth up just as cow’s milk does.
Mushroom coffee is a popular choice too. Initially seen as a ‘health-food’, it’s now experiencing a wider traction among coffee drinkers – who want a healthier, caffeine free alternative. Mushroom Coffee is known to help reduce the negative side effects of coffee, such as an energy crash or anxiety. It’s also easy to make – as it comes ready made within coffee grounds or powders which can be stirred into milk or an espresso.
A post-pandemic coffee world
The food-to-go industry has adapted over the past few years due to the changing needs of consumers. We saw the launch of 578 drive-thru coffee stores, which allowed customers to buy their favourite coffees contact-free.
Another example, was the introduction of coffee subscription cards, used by brands like Pret a Manger. Customers pay around £25 a month for up to five coffees a day, this gives coffee lovers an incentive to go into a store and hopefully be upsold on other products too. Luckily the coffee industry bounced back after the pandemic – 80% of coffee shop goers still visit coffee shops once a week and 16% visit daily.
Although you could argue that the humble coffee brings in this footfall, innovating with the new flavours, variations and incentives – or choosing to work with brands with sustainability at their core – is only going to help sustain a healthy influx of keen coffee drinkers
Coffee brands exhibiting at lunch! 2022
Coffee shop buyers, owners and managers looking for the inside track on what key trends/developments will be shaping the food-to-go market in the years ahead will find plenty of coffee trend-setting exhibitors at lunch! this year. Here’s just a handful of brands to meet at the show on 14-15 September:
CANNACOFFEE – is serving up its Award-winning Precision Infused CBD Coffee – made with Single Origin 100% Arabica from Brazil. Sweet, Smooth & Nutty with notes of Chocolate. Organic & Vegan Certified. CBD + COFFEE is designed to re-balance and refocus and is an effortless way to incorporate CBD into the day, boost mood, keep anxiety levels at bay and enjoy coffee without the jitters! (stand L523).
BOTTLESHOT COFFEE – Bottleshot Coffee is an on-the-go, vegan friendly iced coffee; and the first canned coffee ever to win a Great Taste Award! We use only the finest arabica beans from Brazil and Colombia in our no-added sugar or flavourings recipe to create our range of coffees, this includes our: Iced Black Americano, Award-winning Oat Milk Latte, and the newly launched Mocha (stand L843).
DALLA CORTE – Founded in 2001, Dalla Corte is an international manufacturer of semi-automatic espresso machines and grinders on demand, whose company is situated just outside Milan. The combination of core technology and DC system (MCS – OCS – GCS) makes Dalla Corte machine ideal for coffee shops and chains, guaranteeing repeatability, consistency and an always perfect result after every extraction, also during the busiest peak hours (on stand L444).
UCC Coffee UK & I will reveal the full Ueshima Coffee rangea at lunch! “Ueshima” is Japan’s no.1 coffee with nearly a century of tireless innovation and a strong coffee culture behind it. Now present in Foodservice and Retail in the UK, the coffee is 100% Rainforest Alliance certified packaged in completely recyclable packaging. Available in a variety of formats including aluminium capsules, coffee beans, coffee bags and roast & ground (on stand L621).
GIRLS WHO GRIND COFFEE – are an all-female coffee roastery based in the Southwest of England. Sourcing all their coffees exclusively from change-making womxn producers – celebrating their work and sharing their stories, ensuring representation and visibility for the womxn they work with. At this year’s lunch! GWGC will be showcasing their current range of female-focused coffees in their infamous striking packaging alongside their incredibly popular merchandise (stand L175).
CALIFA FARMS – Califia Farms is creating the ultimate coffee shop experience at lunch! 2022. They will be serving hot coffees with Oat Barista Blend and new cold brew coffees, Pure Black Medium Roast and Caramel Oat Cold Brew. They will also be introducing a new Pumpkin Spice Latte at the stand which launches in September (on stand L1133).
CBD ONE SHOT – Fresh from winning Family Business of the year award 2022 in the Health and Wellbeing category, CBD One bring their ground-breaking One Shot to lunch!. This unique, water-soluble emulsion, bursting with natural goodness can be added to any hot or cold drink to convert it into a CBD drink without affecting the taste.
The CBD One team also offer Hatcha, a versatile cannabinoid rich powder that can be used as an ingredient in to create functional drinks, smoothies or baked goods. This allows all manner of food products to be enriched with CBD power. Look out for their Hatcha treats at the show (stand L745).
CHEERFUL BUDDHA’s – delicious coffee range brings the health-supporting benefits of CBD, functional mushrooms and MCT coconut oil to your daily brew. Their CBD coffee is made with medium roast Colombian arabica beans that have been precision infused at the point of roast with hemp-derived CBD carried in MCT Coconut oil. Their mushroom Coffee range includes three coffees: the Lion’s Mane Focus Superfood Coffee Blend for mental clarity, the Chaga Immunity supporting Superfood Coffee Blend, and the Reishi Defence Superfood Coffee Blend which offers all-round support for the body (stand L440).
Matthew Algie – will be presenting a new range of freshly roasted coffees at lunch! launched to support the restoration of Scotland’s Rainforest. Visitors to the show will be able to sample three distinctive coffees, developed in support of Matthew Algie’s partnership with The John Muir Trust – a conservation charity dedicated to the protection of wild places.
Available to coffee shops and hospitality operators from 28th February, Peak & Wild will also help as many as 2,500 young people across the UK achieve their John Muir Award. The award encourages participants to experience nature, engage in conservation initiatives and help secure the future of conservation (stand L321).
MAGRINI – Magrini will be exhibiting a range of commercial coffee machines, hot and cold milk solutions, blenders and juicers ideal for the food-to-go market. The focus this year will be on automation and how it can help overcome the current industry challenges with staff shortages. On display will be traditional espresso machines with automatic tamping and automatic milk foaming, fully automatic bean-to-cup machines and stand-alone automatic milk texturing machines. Magrini will be offering independent advice on how to improve your current coffee offer, increase productivity and reduce expensive milk waste (stand L661).
Decent Packaging – We see ourselves as an innovative packaging company striving to revolutionise the industry by leading the way with our commitment to product stewardship, sustainably produced products, and incredible customer service. We are passionate about helping the UK’s leading coffee roasters, cafes, food trucks and businesses become the most sustainable in the world (stand L426).
Book a stand today
If you are considering exhibiting your coffee brand, lunch! is the must attend event for the food-to-go sector. At the show, you will have the opportunity to speak to quality buyers and network with other brands in your sector.
If you would like to book a stand, please contact one of our sales team today:
Vicki Balfour, Sales Executive
[email protected], Tel: +44 (0)1273 645 166
Katie Tyler, Event Director
E: [email protected], Tel: +44 (0)01273 645 155
