Education

Cold brew is red hot — let’s make sure it stays that way

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The National Coffee Association is here to help your coffee business navigate cold brew’s evolving regulatory landscape.

Cold brew may not be new, but it’s never been hotter. Demand for the format is off the charts, with 17% of coffee drinkers having had a cup of cold brew in the past week, according to the National Coffee Association’s Spring 2023 National Coffee Data Trends report. Keep in mind, this survey was conducted in January 2023 – the dead of winter – and nearly one-fifth of coffee drinkers were still choosing cold brew each week!

The coffee industry is certainly stepping up to meet this soaring demand. In fact, Technavio reports that the market for cold brew is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.73% between 2022 and 2027, an increase of $439.93 million.

What hasn’t kept pace with this rapid growth, however, are clear rules, regulations, data, and guidelines governing cold brew’s safety. Like all coffee, cold brew is safe. But whether you manufacture airtight ready-to-drink cold brew products or serve it from a dispenser in a retail establishment, the patchwork of state and local laws that apply can leave even the most knowledgeable food service professional scratching their heads.

Given the National Coffee Association’s scope covering the entire U.S. coffee market and our vast in-house scientific and policy expertise, we are well-positioned to help fill in these knowledge gaps. To that end, we have been spending the past several years building a library of resources to help keep your bases covered and the cold brew flowing safely into customers’ cups.  The last thing you or your company needs is a damaging recall or costly lawsuit, so the NCA is here to make sure you’re prepared when the health inspector comes a-knocking.

Last year, we added several tools to our Cold Brew Safety Toolkit: a Cold Brew Safety Guide for Retailers, designed to help retail coffee shops maintain a food-safe environment; a model retail Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) Plan, to ensure you’re taking the necessary steps to protect your product and customers; a compliance checklist, to stay on top of what a health inspector might be checking for; plus, several videos and a webcast covering these tools and how to use them. These new resources complement our existing Cold Brew Safety Toolkit for Industry, geared towards manufacturers of airtight RTD cold brew products, originally released in 2018. We also have a comprehensive FAQ to answer, well, the most frequently asked questions about cold brew safety.

Cold Brew Safety Guide for Retailers,

But NCA’s work is not done! The cold brew space continues to evolve, and we’re developing even more resources to keep you on top of the latest developments. This May 16th, 2023, I will be joined by Scott Hawks, food safety and quality expert with Toxstrategies, LLC, to lead a free, practical, hands-on workshop for NCA Members on the latest cold brew regulatory developments, NCA’s cold brew tools and resources, a forthcoming, hot-off-the-press challenge study, and more. (To learn more about the workshop, head to ncausa.org/CBWorkshop). If you’re not an NCA member and currently handle or sell cold brew, now’s a great time to join. A comparable workshop or training held by an outside consultancy could easily run your company much more than the cost of a small retailer’s annual membership with NCA (visit ncausa.org/join to learn more).  When you consider that top food science consultants charge rates exceeding $400 an hour, becoming part of NCA is a no-brainer, especially when you consider the vast wealth of other, non-cold brew-related resources you’ll also get immediate access to.

As we speak, NCA’s Science Leadership Council (SLC) is also finishing work on the aforementioned comprehensive microbial challenge study and whitepaper, which will be an essential (and required) tool for making the case to an inspector that retail cold brew is not a likely food for pathogens to grow in. I’ll be exploring top-line results of the study at our workshop in May.

On the advocacy front, NCA is working diligently with government and advocacy bodies to solidify a standard in the FDA’s Food Code for retail cold brew specifically. This will give some much-needed clarity to the many coffee companies serving this popular format. Many state and local authorities abide by or model their own regulations after those of the federal government, so this would have a cascading positive impact all the way down the chain.

This is just the beginning for cold brew and for the NCA. With more resources in the pipeline than ever before, NCA is working hard to continually live up to our motto: We Serve Coffee. To learn more about the National Coffee Association, visit ncausa.org.

Mark Corey, PhD. is NCA’s Director of Science and Policy. In this role, he oversees coffee science, regulatory, safety, and policy issues and serves as a technical resource to the industry. Mark holds a B.S. in Food Science and Human Health at the University of Maine, an M.S. in Food Science at the Pennsylvania State University, a Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgia, and has completed a USDA National Needs fellowship in functional foods and human health. He is also a licensed Q-Arabica coffee grader and is PCQI-certified for Human Food.

Earth Day – Coffee’s Sustainability Journey

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Happy Earth Day, coffee lovers!

Our shared environment provides myriad gifts to celebrate today and every day, but we would be remiss not to highlight one of our favorite natural gifts: coffee.

With 65% of Americans drinking coffee each day (according to our latest National Coffee Data Trends (NCDT) Report), coffee is a mainstay in millions of people’s daily lives, including 25 million smallholder farmers around the world. Coffee is certainly far too beloved and important to take for granted as we all work to protect the health of our environment.

Climate change could have significant impacts on coffee, which is uniquely vulnerable to temperature changes and extreme weather, which can damage plants and worsen diseases and pests. Some estimates say that without mitigations, climate change could reduce land suitable for growing coffee by half by 2050.

Clearly, combatting climate change requires action and achievement across our global society. For our part, the coffee community has been a leader in seeking to make coffee the world’s first truly sustainable agricultural commodity, across all three aspects of sustainability as defined by the United Nations – economic, social, and environmental.

Coffee companies across the supply chain have adopted ambitious commitments and comprehensive programs to achieve sustainability, with efforts addressing everything from land use to farmer livelihoods and more. Highlights and summaries of such efforts are available in NCA’s Sustainability Showcase. As of 2019 (the last year for which we have aggregated data), the coffee community had committed more than $531 million to sustainability efforts around the world.

As just one example, NCA’s 2020 Origin Charity Award recipient TechnoServe specializes in business approaches to reducing poverty worldwide. TechnoServe’s coffee programs across Latin America, Africa, and Asia focus on four key drivers of impact that improve farmers’ livelihoods and create greater value across the supply chain:

●     Better Farming: TechnoServe has trained more than 400,000 coffee farmers on sustainable agronomy practices, helping them to increase their productivity and income.  

●     Better Business: TechnoServe has helped farmers construct 266 new coffee-processing businesses and advised more than 760 existing processing businesses. This support has helped improve coffee quality and market access, increasing the incomes of 500,000 farmers globally.

●     Better Supply Chains: TechnoServe has worked with partners across the coffee ecosystem to develop practical and sustainable solutions to supply-chain issues, including access to finance and improved transparency.

●     Better Environment: Pioneering simple, cost-effective solutions, TechnoServe has helped 843 businesses in the coffee value chain to adopt sustainability standards and create positive environmental and social impacts in their communities.

Research also plays a key role. As part of our overall positive agenda for the future of coffee, NCA works with organizations like World Coffee Research to advocate for investments in research and development that will protect coffee plant health and help meet global demand sustainably, including through U.S. government programs and funding.

To further enhance the achievement of sector-wide goals and the implementation of multistakeholder initiatives, coffee leaders support efforts like the Sustainable Coffee Challenge (SCC). The SCC’s 2050 goals unite public and private sector partners committed to conserving natural resources and helping coffee farmers thrive while producing coffee more sustainably than ever and meeting growing global demand. In SCC’s Commitments Hub, you can explore 169 commitments being implemented from farm to cup.

Numerous other partners are working to drive solutions and measure impact. For example, the International Coffee Organization is currently working with the International Trade Centre to map global coffee sustainability efforts with the aims to:

●     Provide greater transparency on sustainability investments in coffee-producing countries

●     Enable insights on thematic concentrations, synergies, and gaps

●     Encourage further collaboration, partnerships, and coordination

A growing share of coffee meets various definitions for sustainable sourcing. The Global Coffee Platform’s 2021 sustainability snapshot found that about half the coffee sourced by reporting companies met GCP’s standards for “sustainable coffee purchases.” According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development, nearly 40% of all coffee purchased in 2020 (1.4 million tons) was sustainably sourced and compliant with voluntary sustainability standards or a corporate sustainability initiative.

In the United States and around the world, coffee drinkers and businesses depend on a truly global supply chain that must start with thriving coffee farmers and a healthy environment. At NCA, we are working hard to support members’ sustainability efforts and to maintain strong multistakeholder relationships that advance the achievement of common goals. That’s something worth celebrating.

The reason is the season: Coffee’s seasonal taste and temperature trends

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It’s one of the most wonderful times of the year! That’s right, spring has sprung and the latest edition of the National Coffee Data Trends (NCDT) report is here.

Commissioned by the National Coffee Association (NCA) since 1950, the NCDT report is the longest-running study of American consumers’ coffee drinking patterns. Polling is conducted twice per year, with results released in the spring and fall, giving coffee insiders exclusive access to in-depth and up-to-date data on consumers’ coffee behaviors and also their overall perceptions, economic situations, and more.

For more than two decades, coffee has been America’s favorite beverage, and that shows no signs of changing. 65% of Americans drank coffee in the past day – more than any other beverage, including bottled or tap water!

While coffee’s overall popularity has not shown much change in recent years, this spring’s report provides an important window into coffee trends as consumers continue to emerge from the disruptions of the last several years. Spring 2023 NCDT results show that past-day coffee consumption is above pre-pandemic levels for all age groups, but some other effects remain.

The pandemic has not changed how much coffee Americans drink – 1.9 cups per person or 2.9 cups per past-day coffee drinker, about the same as in January 2020. However, the pandemic has had lingering effects on where Americans drink coffee.

In the new report, 83% of past-day coffee drinkers had coffee at home, up by 4% since January 2020. By comparison, 35% had coffee away from home, continuing to rebound from a low of 31% in January 2021, but down from 41% in January 2020.

Other changes in the Spring 2023 NCDT can be attributed to seasonal swings. Unsurprisingly, colder temperatures when polling was conducted in January 2023 resulted in some warmer cups – 84% of past-day coffee drinkers had a hot coffee, up 10% from polling in July 2022 (published in October).

Consumption of cold coffee overall (a category that includes both iced and frozen blended beverages) decreased by 13% from July 2022 to January 2023, while iced coffee itself decreased by 40%. Interestingly, frozen coffee doesn’t show the same swing, with consumption remaining steady at 11% since the summer.


Like coffee’s overall popularity, some other findings in today’s report show remarkable staying power. Drip coffee makers have been the most popular preparation method for at least the last 13 years since the question was first included in the NCDT. 40% of past-day coffee drinkers have had coffee prepared in a drip brewer.

In second place, 28% of past-day coffee drinkers used a single-cup brewer, holding steady with performance over the last few years.

Our NCDT insights don’t end there! That’s just a small sip of the data and analysis available in the full report. Stay tuned here on the NCD blog for more sneak peeks and click here to purchase the NCDT consumer research series.

Celebrate National Nutrition Month With a Cup of Coffee

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Coffee is an everyday staple for many Americans – in fact, more Americans (66% of adults) drink coffee each day than any other beverage. NCA conducts the longest-running study of consumer coffee habits in the United States, and our most recent data show that not only is coffee maintaining its popularity overall, but it’s also more popular than ever with younger generations. In September 2022, 51% of 18 to 24-year-olds drank coffee each day, surpassing the previous record of 50% from September 2020.

Whether as fuel for our mornings, an afternoon boost, or just for the flavor and aroma – Americans love coffee. And during March – National Nutrition Month – there is even more reason to celebrate coffee’s unique benefits! 

For Nutrition Month, let’s start with the basics. Coffee is a calorie-free food, as defined by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). That is, the USDA Nutrient Database reports the calorie content of 8 ounces of coffee (without sweeteners, creamers, or other additives) as 2.37 calories. With less than 5 calories per serving, coffee qualifies as a “calorie-free” food. While it doesn’t have calories, coffee does contain more than 1000 natural compounds that may be related to its health impact. For example, coffee is a major source of antioxidants in U.S. diets. 

The 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans include coffee as a beverage that can be part of healthy dietary patterns. When it comes to coffee’s place in healthy diets, it’s reasonable to wonder about the impact of ingredients commonly added to coffee – for example, dairy (or dairy alternatives) and sweeteners. Our data show that 35% of past-day coffee drinkers take their coffee without any milk or creamers and 54% take it without sugar or sweetener. Just 29% use dairy or dairy alternatives and 27% use sugar. Importantly, if those who enjoy coffee with a bit of sugar (1-2 tsp per cup) have 3 cups of coffee a day, they will have consumed just an additional 48-96 calories. A 2022 analysis from the UK Biobank Study, one of the best-designed prospective cohort studies in the world, associates greater longevity with coffee drinking. This association with higher longevity was even found among those who consume sugar-sweetened coffee.  

So, what are the specific health benefits of coffee? Decades of independent scientific evidence show that drinking coffee is associated with living longer, healthier, happy lives. Prospective studies, published in peer-reviewed journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and Circulation, encompassing hundreds of thousands of people in the United States, United Kingdom, other European countries, South Korea, and elsewhere show increased longevity in coffee drinkers. In fact, a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that compared with nonconsumers, participants with the highest level of coffee consumption had a statistically significant lower all-cause mortality. Moreover, among women, there was a statistically significant inverse association of coffee drinking with circulatory disease mortality and cerebrovascular disease mortality. 

In a blog post last month, we discussed in detail coffee’s positive impact on heart health. In addition to being associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease (the leading cause of death for Americans), drinking coffee is associated with a reduced risk of multiple cancers. The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) recommends drinking coffee “regularly” and the American Cancer Society (ACS) has concluded that coffee reduces the risk of multiple cancers including liver cancer, endometrial cancer, cancers of the mouth, pharynx, and larynx, as well as basal cell skin cancer and melanoma. 

These statements are backed up by dozens of high-quality studies. One study found that coffee is the only antioxidant food associated with reduced risk of the most common type of skin cancer, cutaneous melanoma. According to the ACS, skin cancer is “by far the most common type of cancer.” In fact, one in every five Americans will develop skin cancer by the age of 70.

Coffee consumption is also associated with maintaining a healthy body weight and reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, another leading cause of ill health for Americans. A study published in The Journal of Nutrition in 2020 found that higher coffee consumption (both caffeinated and decaffeinated) was associated with “significantly lower total body fat percentage and trunk body fat” in women.  

Evidence indicates that moderate coffee consumption is associated with a significantly reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes. According to Diabetes UK, research has indicated a “notably lower risk” of type 2 diabetes for coffee drinkers, about 40% reduced risk for those who drink 3 cups/day. The organization says decaffeinated coffee may have particular benefits for people living with diabetes. Specific studies have supported this finding. For example, a study published in Nutrition Reviews found that coffee consumption is inversely associated with the risk of Type 2 Diabetes; this may be due to coffee’s antioxidative and anti-inflammatory effects, among other benefits.  

As if that weren’t good news enough, drinking coffee is also associated with mental health benefits. Meta-analyses of studies including more than 300,000 individuals found that each cup of coffee reduced the risk of depression by about 8%, with the greatest benefits from four cups per day.  

We could go on (and we have – for example, in our recent comment to FDA regarding its draft rule on products eligible to be labeled as “healthy”). The evidence is clear: coffee makes unique contributions as part of healthy dietary patterns that support good nutrition and health. 

One recent column published in The Atlantic went so far as to call coffee “a miracle.” That particular claim isn’t scientific, but we tend to agree with the sentiment! This month and every month, we hope the evidence on coffee and health gives you an extra reason to enjoy your favorite brew.

More Young Americans Drinking Coffee Than Ever Before

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The NCA’s National Coffee Data Trends (NCDT) report is an essential compendium of coffee statistics, offering the most in-depth coffee industry market research currently available — and it just received its biannual update. The Fall 2022 edition of the NCDT revealed a wealth of exciting trends in the coffee world today, but one of the more promising revelations is that more young Americans are drinking coffee than ever before. 

For older Americans, coffee is a no-brainer. In each surveyed age group of Americans over 25 years old (25-39, 40-59, and 60+) roughly 69% of respondents had had coffee in the past day. However, for younger Americans (18-24), 51% of those surveyed had a coffee within the past day. 

This graphic was generated using the NCDT Interactive Data Visualization Platform, available to NCA Members.

Despite this 18 point gap in coffee consumption between young people and older age groups, the divide is narrowing. In fact, coffee consumption among 18-to-24-year-olds is up 21% from January 2021 and a larger share of the age group is drinking coffee than ever before, surpassing the previous record of 50% set in September 2020. This indicates an intermediate-term upward trend of young people drinking coffee.

Younger coffee drinkers — especially 25-to-39-year-olds — continue to drive consumption of espresso-based and non-espresso-based specialty coffee drinks, which includes preparations such as cappuccino, espresso, lattes, frozen blended coffee, cold brew, and nitro coffee (for more definitions, check out page 16 of the free preview of the Fall 2022 NCDT.)

Specialty Coffee Beverages (NET) includes Espresso-based beverages, non-espresso-based beverages, and traditional hot and iced specialty coffee. This graphic was generated using the NCDT Interactive Data Visualization Platform, available to NCA Members.

As more drinks catering to the tastes of young adults are developed, it is not unlikely that we will see young Americans drinking more and more coffee. However this trend develops, you can be sure that we will be updating these numbers in our Spring 2023 National Coffee Data Trends report. In the meantime, we invite you to explore our exclusive collection of in-depth data on this topic and many other coffee trends in the full Fall 2022 NCDT report available here.

How to get the most out of your eCommerce digital content

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This is a guest post from HINGE Global, which recently held a webinar on how digital content can help you achieve your coffee eCommerce goals. NCA Members can view a recording of the webinar here, and learn more about Hinge’s Amazon Coffee Data Dashboard here.

In the US, eCommerce has grown by 32.4% since the start of the pandemic, and the US Department of Commerce shows that by the end of 2021, eCommerce will make up 13% of total retail sales (up from just 4% 10 years ago). 

The “endless aisles” of eCommerce means that consumers have easy access to millions of products that meet their specific needs. In 2021, there were 36,263 coffee products across 1,769 different brands, over 100X more than a typical grocery store!

All this means that winning in eCommerce requires a different approach than traditional retail stores.  E-Commerce managers need to make sure that the products can be discovered by consumers (via search), that consumers understand the product benefits (via the product detail page), and that consumers are persuaded to buy (i.e., conversion). Plus, consumer expectations continue to rise. Consumers shop multiple channels and are constantly comparing product offerings across sites.  This means that best-in-class digital content is critical to helping brands win in eCommerce.

1. Great copywriting (and keywords) helps your product be found in search.  The goal of copywriting to improve your brand’s organic search rank within the category.  Improving organic search results will also improve the return on advertising spending, because your marketing dollars will not have to work as hard. The secret to great copywriting is the artful blend of channel-specific keyword research, coupled with persuasive and clear writing, all while staying true to your brand’s voice. 

2. Product photography and lifestyle images drive conversion.  eCommerce shoppers spend less than four seconds before they click on a specific product listing. This is why it is critical to have eye-catching and appealing digital images. Product images need to grab shoppers’ attention, communicate the key benefits, and persuade consumers to buy the product.  Given the importance of product images, we strongly recommend that eCommerce sellers have at least 5 images per product listing.  To maximize eCommerce sales, all images should be created with a mobile-first approach.

3. Enhanced Brand Content (also known as Rich Media or A+ Content) boosts conversions by 12%-36%, according to Walmart.com. In fact, some retailers are starting to mandate the use of Enhanced Brand Content because of the improved customer experience.  Enhanced Brand Content typically sits below-the-fold, just before product reviews.  Because of this position, many consumers will scroll to this section while they do additional product research before making an online purchase.

HINGE GLOBAL is a leading full-service eCommerce agency, with particularly strong experience in Coffee and Foodservice.  Their team of eCommerce experts can help you optimize your online product detail pages, copywriting, and enhanced content.  Additionally, through their partnership with Salsify, HINGE GLOBAL can publish all your digital content to all your eCommerce sites, including Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Target.com, Shopify, and more. Reach out to HINGE GLOBAL for more information at contact@hingeglobal.com.

Flavor as the common thread for coffee quality along the value chain

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Coffee cupping prep ©2019 Decisive Moment, NCA Convention

The role of cupping in specialty coffee

By Mario R. Fernández-Alduenda, The Coffee Quality Institute
Excerpted from The Sustainable Cultivation of Coffee
Discount available for NCA members

The popularity of coffee is still growing, but the definition of what makes a ‘good’ cup of coffee is complex.

It might be tempting to think that it is largely subjective, with so many types of coffee grown around the world, so many processes to consider throughout the value chain, and so many local and national preferences.

However, the sustainability of the industry depends on the value placed on certain types of coffee. Local economies can thrive or fail, depending on the desirability of their crop.

The growing preference for ‘specialty’ coffee, sold at a premium price, is making the quality question even more critical. The ability to distinguish specific characteristics that make some crops more desirable than standard commercial coffee has become a major consideration over the last 20 years.

Physical characteristics of the bean or cherry are not good indicators of flavor in the cup, so how is this important choice to be made?

Continue reading →

How To Communicate TRUE Coffee Quality

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Baristas training to make the perfect cup of coffee

Learn more about coffee quality: Join Blue Donkey Coffee for a specialty coffee cupping at the 2019 NCA Convention in Atlanta, March 7-9

The following article was originally published as the first installment of a 2-part special series in Tea and Coffee Trade Journal in the July/August 2018 and September 2018 issues

By Spencer Turer, Coffee Enterprises – via LinkedIn

“Coffee professionals are enthusiastic, passionate and place a high priority on product education – but we often create jargon and use insider’s vernacular not easily understood by consumers.”

How do we encourage or persuade customers to try our coffee?

Communicating the virtues of the coffee will attract the attention of buyers, for both green coffee and roasted coffee.

The success of any beverage program starts with quality: how does it taste? Branding, promotion and merchandising will capture the first sale, but only quality will keep your customers returning time after time.

Together we will explore how to create TRUE coffee descriptions:

Trustworthy, Realistic, Understandable, Enticing.

Continue reading →

5 Key Training Principles For Quality Coffee Service

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dreamstime_xxl_84938887.jpg

Effective training is critical to make your specialty coffee program a success.

By Anne Nylander

Current coffee trends point to an ever-increasing demand in product quality.

Excellent customer service, preparation skills, and organization are rapidly becoming minimum expectations in the café environment.

As coffee quality becomes increasingly important in coffee service, training becomes a critical component of a company’s long-term success. High-quality skills and behavior training remain as one of the industry’s proven methods for increased customer satisfaction and sales growth.

When it comes to training, there are several factors that can impact a trainer’s successes or failures.

In her 2018 workbook, Specialty Coffee Training Consultant Anne Nylander tackles the key training principles organization leaders and educators will need in order to make their program a success.

Here, we briefly cover five of the principles discussed in the book:

Continue reading →

NCA Cold Brew Toolkit: FAQs

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NCA_Web_blog_coldbrewworkshop_nov

New! NCA Workshop for Coffee Professionals:

The Business & Safety of Cold Brew | Nov. 6 | Sponsored by: Toddy, LLC

What is cold brew coffee?

“At its core, cold brew is a brewing method, not a serving method,” explains Mark Corey, Ph.D., NCA Director of Scientific & Government Affairs.

Dr. Corey led a team of specialized experts to develop the NCA Cold Brew Toolkit, now available to the entire coffee industry. (Read more background about the report and related food safety considerations.)

The Toolkit offers science-based technical guidance and recommended best practices – visit the NCA website for more details.

While working on the report, we received a lot of questions – from consumers and companies alike – about the beverage market’s hottest trend.

Here are some expert-approved answers to common questions about what “cold brew coffee” really means:

NCA Cold Brew Coffee FAQs

Continue reading →