Posted on: 2015-02-10 12:00 AM If office workers fail to get their morning cup of coffee, it could lead to negative emotions ranging from exhausted to irritable to disorganized, a new survey finds.
Of course, the result of the survey comes as no surprise, as it was sponsored by Keurig Green Mountain, the company that developed the single-serving brewing system popular in homes.
The company is now developing a system for offices and other work locations.
According to the National Coffee Association, the percentage of coffee drinkers who prepared their coffee with a single-cup brewing system grew to 29 percent last year from 20 percent in 2013. The increase came at the sacrifice of traditional drip coffee-makers, which declined from 58 percent to 53 percent.
The popularity of coffee is nowhere more evident than at Starbucks during the past holiday shopping season. The company reported that it sold 37 million gift cards between Nov. 3 and Dec. 25.
More important, the cards were loaded with $1.1 billion in future buying power.
Quite simply, one out of every seven Americans received a Starbucks gift card during the holidays and very few complained or tried to take it back.
“Our reimagined in-store holiday experience that included a vastly expanded assortment of Starbucks cards, new holiday food, beverage and merchandise offerings, and the opportunity to win 'Starbucks for Life' resonated powerfully with our customers and drove both increased traffic and tremendous excitement in our stores and around the Starbucks brand,” CEO Howard Schultz said.
For an industry with roots dating back to the 15th century, coffee is constantly trying to come up with something new. When Green Mountain Coffee Roasters changed its name to include Keurig, it marked a move toward marketing not only coffee but also the brewing devices.
The company produces 60 varieties of pods used in the single-serving systems, ranging from Starbucks to Chock Full O' Nuts.
The company recently announced that it is partnering with Coca-Cola to develop a system for brewing cold beverages. It also announced that the cold system, due before the end of the year, will feature products from the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
“With Keurig Cold, we've leveraged Keurig innovation to make it simple for consumers to create great-tasting cold beverages at home with the one-touch simplicity of Keurig,” chief product officer Lori Tauber said.
But, to be sure, coffee is still the product of choice for home brewers. The most recent research by the National Coffee Association finds daily consumption of gourmet coffee by adults rose to 34 percent last year, up from 31 percent in 2013. Non-gourmet coffee consumption dropped to 35 percent from 39 percent.
The battle between coffee and soda continues to lean in favor of coffee. The NCA report showed 61 percent of adults drink coffee every day, compared with 41 percent for soda.
Bottom line: Coffee's popularity continues to grow, and not just in the United States. Worldwide, 2.25 billion cups of coffee are downed each day. And, thanks to Starbucks, most people don't seem fazed to spend $5 for a drink that costs much less to produce.
