Leon Smith considered himself a coffee connoisseur and his local drive-through coffee shop in hometown Akron, Ohio was a place he visited daily to get his favorite beverage. For Leon, and perhaps many others, the pitfalls presented by Covid-19 as coffee shops started scaling down operations, meant that he had to re-invent how he purchased coffee.
To start with, Leon bought a coffee grinder. He then searched online for a coffee subscription service that could send him freshly roasted coffee beans every 4 weeks. “I love coffee that has sweet notes and with a Jasmine flavor, and for me that always comes from coffee grown at high altitude areas. My local coffee shop wasn’t serving my regular drink and for the first time, I had to figure things out for myself. I bought a coffee grinder and then subscribed to an online coffee subscription company that has been sending me freshly roasted coffee beans every 4 weeks” Leon told a gourmet coffee journalist in an interview.
Leon further admits his coffee-at-home consumption has markedly increased in the last four months, and he has been buying less prepared coffee in shops. This new way of buying coffee has helped Leon realize that coffee works best when ground at home with the right water ratio. He also recommends storing the ground coffee properly in airtight canisters to retain the aroma and flavor.
The example above is one of the many that demonstrates how Coronavirus has impacted the coffee supply chain. From the smallholder coffee farmer to the exporter, to the roaster, to the consumer. As stay-at-home orders have become more widespread, many people have transitioned from drinking coffee at work or at a cafe to drinking coffee only in their homes.
While coffee sales at cafes and restaurants have plummeted due to COVID-19, home consumption has soared, with coffee subscription companies reporting increased demand. Has your coffee consumption been interrupted by Covid-19?