Approximately 79 percent of adults in the United States drank coffee in the last two years, according to Chicago-based Mintel’s October 2011 Coffee report. However, 48 percent of coffee drinkers surveyed said they drank more coffee at home and less away from home in 2011 than they did the year before — a trend that Mintel predicted will continue to drive retail coffee sales through 2012.
Increases in commodity prices, including coffee beans and transportation costs, coupled with a growing demand for coffee in emerging markets such as India and China, created price speculation, which caused some coffee brands to raise retail prices. The market has seen some recent stabilization and last year, J.M. Smucker Co., Orrville, Ohio, and Kraft Foods Inc., Northfield, Ill., both announced price decreases for their retail coffee brands. Kraft Foods also rolled out premium coffee brand Gevalia to retailers in January.