The world is drinking less coffee while office workers stay home

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/the-world-is-drinking-less-coffee-while-office-workers-stay-home/ar-BB16BZzj

by finphil • 6 years ago

73 85 6 years ago

ksaj2• 6 years ago

A few months ago, it was apparently the opposite. https://financialpost.com/commodities/agriculture/we-are-dri...

sp332• 6 years ago

Maybe people are drinking the same amount of coffee, but they had to stock up their homes in March-April and then haven't needed to refill since then.

ksaj2• 6 years ago

That makes me wonder if the toilet paper industry is also seeing a short-term dip in sales because of all that hoarding earlier this year.

boomboomsubban• 6 years ago

I imagine the spike was caused by individuals suddenly purchasing more coffee before the major companies could alter their long term orders. Plus the pandemic likely caused some issues in the supply line.

That article even predicts that eventually demand would drop as restaurants closed.

seattle_spring• 6 years ago

Wow not me. Probably because my home coffee setup and beans are a lot better than my office.

chrissnell2• 6 years ago

This, absolutely. The 'Rona shutdown inspired me to buy an old commercial espresso machine (1964 FAEMA E.61) and build out a little home coffee shop in the garage, where I learned to pull shots.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCgeL3dsTzW/?igshid=u06d4u494zyq

elliekelly• 6 years ago

Did you set out to buy that particular machine or did you just happen across it? If you don’t mind my asking, how much did it cost? I have so many questions!

Do you have a blog? I’d love to read how all of this came about. What an awesome project. It looks great!

arcticbull• 6 years ago

I'm sitting next to one of those to-go carafe boxes of coffee right now I ordered yesterday. 8-ish cups. It's empty now. RIP.

ci5er5• 6 years ago

I drink about 36-cups/day, so this sounds as if I would be really irate if I had that little...

wlesieutre• 6 years ago

Likewise. Drinking less tea though, that was the better alternative to bad office coffee.

beamatronic• 6 years ago

I stopped having 4 K-cups a day. Instead I grind and brew my favorite coffee every morning. And then I sit on the patio in the early morning sun and enjoy it. Life’s good!

colordrops2• 6 years ago

For sure, I bought a Breville Express espresso machine and don't know how I ever lived without it.

ubrpwnzr• 6 years ago

Right on my coffee game is so strong since the lockdown I think I might need to attend a Coffee Anonymous program right now.

dwd2• 6 years ago

Same: My manual expresso machine at home has always been better than the fully automatic in the office, and I usually have an extra cup because I enjoy it more.

Stocked up on extra beans as well the other day in anticipation of it all going to hell soon in Australia.

volkk2• 6 years ago

i personally drink coffee less because i can simply take a 25 min power nap when i get my usual noon drowsiness after lunch. i also sleep longer because i dont need to commute as much and feel much more refreshed throughout the day

Mc91• 6 years ago

Before working from home, I used to set my alarm to two hours before work. I would shave, shower, brush my teeth, have a quick breakfast, then commute in.

Now I set my alarm for fifteen minutes before work. It's preferable for me if I go to bed early enough that I wake up with enough time for a shower, but if I don't I can take one after work (or during lunch). The only reason I need a whole fifteen minutes in the morning is that it takes a couple of minutes for me to log in my Mac and VPN in.

At work we have nice coffee machines with free coffee. I have coffee at home too but I am less tired in the morning. Not that costing a little prevents me from drinking coffee, it's more that it being free is an enticement to drinking it, as if I am missing one of my perks of the days at the office when I skip coffee. Also, I am getting less physical activity every week now, so I also avoid coffee for the calories, and go for water instead.

volkk2• 6 years ago

as if I am missing one of my perks of the days at the office when I skip coffee

same mentality for me.

so I also avoid coffee for the calories, and go for water instead.

i'm pretty sure coffee is like almost 0 calories as long as you dont add milk, isnt it?

eecc2• 6 years ago

This... and I’m also more productive: 30min of off line rather than uselessly fight drowsiness for 2h

originalvichy• 6 years ago

I got rid of energy variability by just fasting through the workday and making and eating the meal after my 7,5h day. I got the drowsiness after lunch and I also opted for easy to make lunches which were definitely unhealthy.

By just drinking water/decaf coffee/decaf tea, and putting in an effort for a decent meal, I started getting more consistent energy levels. Your mileage may vary.

bluedino• 6 years ago

If I can’t stay at the coffee shop to work, there’s no point in going. I can make a cup at home and save $5

pantaloony• 6 years ago

I drink a lot less good coffee at home. Not worth shelling out for 5lb of the good stuff when everything past the first pound will be stale and not very good by the time I get to it, and purchased in smaller (usually 8-12oz) bags high-quality, freshly-roasted beans are way too expensive to have more than occasionally. So those transcendently good cups where one can actually taste stuff other than "coffee flavor" or "three-day-old rained-on camp fire" happen a lot less often for me now. :-(

Upper-end-of-bad coffee beans from Costco (so, about the best they have there) are my go-to at home. Steeping the grounds slow & cold yields way less cigarette butt flavor/odor than doing pourovers with them, so I'm making a lot more cold brew than before. Good thing it's Summer.

Ductapemaster• 6 years ago

The more expensive beans from Costco are great as Toddy cold brew! I don't like them as normal hot-brew...too much cigarette/burnt flavor comes through for me as you mentioned — but not in the cold brew!

mtts2• 6 years ago

You can freeze coffee beans. Helps keeps them fresh a lot longer.

regularfry2• 6 years ago

I do this. Get a kilo of good beans, freeze them in 250g batches.

jt2190• 6 years ago

Same article, no paywall:

http://a.msn.com/00/en-us/BB16BZzj

finphil• 6 years ago

Thank you. Initially I posted a link from BNN (no paywall) but it has since been changed to bloomberg.com .

dang• 6 years ago

Ok, changed from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-11/the-world.... Thanks!

WheelsAtLarge• 6 years ago

I drink a lot less. I drink a cup a day now. I used to drink a few a day but I'm better rested and needed less of it now. Quick tip, McCafe coffee is great tasting and a pretty good bargain. I bought it for the cost and kept it for the taste.

stunt• 6 years ago

One cup of coffee in the morning, and one cup of tea in the afternoon. I'm on the same routine since 5 years ago.

stefan_• 6 years ago

Going to fetch a coffee in the office kitchen is a social event or discussion break. Doesn't work as well at home.

hprotagonist• 6 years ago

meanwhile i laid in a 15 pound supply in late February when it was starting to look scary, Just In Case.

eecc2• 6 years ago

Hmm, morning doses remain the same. In the afternoon laziness might delay the inevitable second moka round but eventually I’ll go for it. I have a 6cups Bialetti Venus... should I be worried?

setgree2• 6 years ago

Shutdowns for cafes and restaurants -- which typically account for about 25% of demand -- were overwhelming, and it could be a while before things pick up again.

I was originally going to theorize something about office workers having more options to deal with fatigue -- taking a nap, or staring into space (and maybe being less fatigued in general from all the time saved commuting?) -- rather than just drinking coffee and toughing it out at their desks; but in light of this stat, it seems that this is all about how hard cafes & restaurants have been hit by lockdown.

jseliger• 6 years ago

I went to coffee shops not so much for the coffee (as many point out, I can make it for 10% or less of what the coffee shop does) but for the hanging out in a "third place."

setgree2• 6 years ago

The coffee shop near my (former) Manhattan apartment is one of the places I miss most in all this.

eli_gottlieb• 6 years ago

... I was going to respond saying that I simply don't limit my sleep anymore. Sure, I work all hours of the day, but I did that before the COVID-19 shutdowns. Now I'm just working all hours of the day, then sleeping until I feel good about waking up.

caymanjim• 6 years ago

Most workplaces have free coffee, but few have anything else to drink. I suspect if you looked at workplaces which stock a variety of free beverages, coffee consumption there would be much lower as well. I'm somewhat ambivalent about coffee; I'll drink it if someone else prepares it, but I almost never bother brewing a pot myself. Without an office where someone's always got a pot going, or where they have one of those horrible mini-cup instant brewers, I never drink it.

nabaraz• 6 years ago

I feel the same. I used to walk around the campus every couple of hours and grab a coffee on the way to my desk. For most days, it amounted to 4-5 cups of coffee.

At home, I barely go past 2 cups.

padde• 6 years ago

I ordered more Nespresso capsules during the last four months than I had during the last four years.

christoph• 6 years ago

Same, as much as I still love my aeropress and french press and hate the Nespresso lock-in, wastage, etc. I do honestly feel my Nespresso Vertuo makes a damn great cup every time, with zero fuss. Plus their ordering and delivery is slick as hell. Ordering a load of different capsules on their mobile app in the evening and they’re at my door the next morning is pretty incredible. They still can’t seem to send a properly formatted HTML email with the invoice/receipt though.

rafaelvasco• 6 years ago

Don't know why but my body tends to react badly to acidic foods. So I don't drink coffee (and no alcohol, no junk food, no carbonated sugary poison drinks... and so on ). That said, home office was a godsend for me. I'm now productive and happy. Without coffee :)

datenhorst• 6 years ago

One Word: histamines

tamiral• 6 years ago

you can find some low acidic coffee, there are some high elevation smooth coffees from Uganda as an example that might be of interest.

elindbe2• 6 years ago

Anecdotally, I've been quite addicted to coffee since college and wanted to try giving it up. Going to work every day, I had trouble going cold turkey, but once COVID hit and I started working from home I gave it up almost effortlessly. I feel like the disruption of routines makes changing your habits easier.

blackrock• 6 years ago

Did anyone get headaches after stopping drinking coffee for a few days?

bitwize• 6 years ago

My girlfriend moved up just before the major COVID lockdowns and brought with her a French press and a barista's expertise. So we've been having good coffee virtually every day.

The world is drinking less coffee while office workers stay home

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