Coffee Trends: CBD, Oat Milk, & PSL!
We delved into what is currently trending in the coffee industry and across the board, we saw CBD, Oat Milk and milk alternatives! Here at Koffee Kult, we prefer our coffee paired with...coffee, but few coffee trends do catch our eye and we've been known to indulge in a Pumpkin Spice Latte once or twice throughout the season.
CBD, Cannabidiol, a compound in cannabis, has been trending in the news as it's being used in everything from coffee, lotions, candy, to ice cream. Studies have shown it can be used to reduce pain, anxiety, and even potentially treat acne. This trend has been critiqued in the industry by CBD experts for those looking to use it for its potential medical benefits. Temperature and dosing cannot be controlled, which would alter the benefits. We're going to give this trend a pass.
Photo by Amanda Vick on Unsplash
Using Oat Milk or alternative milk such as Macadamia instead of milk in your coffee isn't a new trend, but the alternative milks keep popping up in the market and for the most part, this trend gets our stamp of approval. Certain alternative milks, specifically the barista blends, can be a better option than milk for latte art. This trend is one that will stick around. Quaker Oats even jumped on board and introduced Quaker Oat Beverage this year.
The coffee industry has become a hotspot for trends. Nielsen found that coffee consumers are currently loving ready-to-drink options. Sales have gone from $1.5 billion in 2015 to $3.1 billion in 2019 thus far. What's driving this increase is the innovation seen in the industry to adopt new trends. Since August 2018, Nielsen discovered around 1,000 new coffee products have been launched in the U.S. market alone, a 30% increase in the same 2017 period.
Photo credit: Image by Becky Wiggins from Pixabay
Nielsen also discovered flavored coffee options have helped increase this boom in the industry with pumpkin spice products leading the charge.
Have you tried any recent coffee trends you loved or hated and want to share? Let us know in the comments.
