U.S. consumers are increasingly choosing at-home espresso makers and gourmet espresso-based drinks over single-serve pod coffee, according to Euromonitor International.
U.S. retail unit sales of espresso coffee machines soared by 29% from 2010 to 2015, per Euromonitor’s Consumer Appliances database. Those sales are predicted to grow by 18% from 2015 to 2020, while retail unit sales for pod coffee machines, like Keurig, are expected to remain stagnant.
Pod-based coffee consumption isn’t a faded trend yet. 28% of survey respondents said they used a single-cup brewer in 2016, an uptick over 25% last year, according to the National Coffee Association. About 12% said they used an espresso maker in the past-day this year, as compared to 9% last year.
As quickly as pod coffee’s meteoric rise began, it didn’t take long for sales to flatten out as the next big coffee trend, espresso, takes hold. Restaurant menu trends (and in this case, coffee shop trends) often trickle down to packaged foods as consumers demand those same products and ingredients at home. In this case, espresso and espresso-based drinks have become so popular at coffee shops that coffee manufacturers are now trying to catch up.
The next logical step for pod coffee makers is to adapt to the espresso trend by adding that functionality to their machines. Nestle has already done this and is now a leader in espresso pod-based machines unders its Nespresso brand. Last year, the company announced an expansion for Nespresso in the U.S., VertuoLine, which would accommodate Americans’ preference for larger cups.
Adaptation is not as simple as it seems. Unless manufacturers address certain packaging and processing issues, their espresso-plus-coffee pod machines could still be plagued by the same environmental concerns that companies like Keurig currently struggle with. Keurig recently announced its recyclable coffee pod, which will be in full effect by 2020, but those pods are still not biodegradable and depend on consumers to initiate the recycling.
Carolyn Heneghan
Euromonitor International: A Growing Preference for Espresso-Based Coffee Shop Drinks in the US
