How the coffee prosumer market is evolving

Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world. In fact, in the National Coffee Association’s most recent 2024 National Coffee Data Trends report, 67% of US adults said they drank coffee the previous day – marking a 20-year high for coffee consumption in the country.

The report also found that US specialty coffee consumption was up by 7.5% on the previous year, with espresso-based drinks leading the trend. So as the global specialty coffee market grows, so too does consumer knowledge and interest – especially alongside a huge focus on consumer education following the pandemic.

Essentially, more and more people want to know how to make café-quality drinks at home. But to do so, they also need high-quality equipment and tools. In turn, coffee equipment manufacturers have shifted their attention to the burgeoning “prosumer” market – and have developed more intuitive machines and brewing equipment for consumers to use at home.

So how has the coffee prosumer market changed in recent years, and how could it evolve even further? To find out, I spoke to Josh Hockin, Head of Coffee at Eight Ounce Coffee.

You may also like our article on how home coffee machines are evolving.

Home coffee equipment has come a long way

People the world over have been making coffee at home for centuries. But in comparison to the market today, home brewing equipment has largely been fairly rudimentary – think basic stove top percolators, for example.

So when bean-to-cup machines first launched (fully or semi-automatic systems which grind and brew coffee, including milk-based drinks), the way people prepared coffee at home changed forever. As equipment became more technologically advanced, consumers were able to make a more diverse range of coffee beverages to a higher quality standard than ever before.

The same can be said for the impact that capsules had on the at-home coffee market – particularly Nespresso. Launched by Swiss multinational Nestlé in 1986, the machines were designed to produce espresso-style drinks.

But it was two years later, when Jean-Paul Gaillard joined the company, that Nespresso changed its marketing strategies. Rather than targeting the product to businesses, Gaillard switched up Nespresso’s branding – instead marketing the capsules as “luxury” products.

Once again, the home coffee equipment market had changed forever. Both convenience and quality held equal importance among consumers – with drinking higher-quality coffee becoming more of a lifestyle.

How do we define a coffee “prosumer”?

“Prosumer” often means an individual who both produces and consumes. In the coffee industry, however, the term means something slightly different.

Josh Hockin is the Head of Coffee at Eight Ounce Coffee in Alberta, Canada – a specialty coffee equipment distributor which supplies machines and tools to cafés across North America.

“Personally, I define a prosumer as someone who has turned coffee into a hobby, or even a ritual,” he says. “Their approach to making coffee can intersect with their other interests as well. Some are more technically inclined and will dive into the mechanics of their equipment, others are rigorous tasters and like to fine-tune their extractions, and some people focus more on aesthetics.

“I know people who are devout home roasters and others who know everything about paper filter porosity,” he adds. “What they all have in common is that they put a lot of effort into the decisions they make when purchasing their home equipment and coffee – they want to achieve specific results.”

Essentially, a prosumer is someone who invests in making specialty coffee at home. Naturally, however, people’s budgets can vary significantly – ranging from having a US $5,000 single group head espresso machine or a more simple pour over setup. The key element is having a keen interest in and passion for making specialty coffee at home.

How social media has influenced the coffee prosumer

Social media has certainly helped facilitate the growth of specialty coffee. And with the rising prominence of influencer figures in the industry over the past few years, coffee prosumers also have their own distinct presence on social media.

“I think more than any big trend in home coffee equipment, social media has had the biggest influence on coffee prosumerism,” Josh says. “Anyone who may be interested in learning more about specialty coffee now has so many easily accessible resources in as many formats as they could ever want.

“Coffee hobbyists used to get together on forums like atl.coffee, Home Barista, and Coffeed to ask questions, share knowledge, and build their community,” he adds. “This space has now expanded into YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.”

In line with this, the design of home coffee equipment – particularly espresso machines and grinders – has become much more visually appealing.

“The aesthetics of home coffee equipment has turned into Pinterest and Instagram-worthy setups, which more and more consumers can appreciate,” Josh tells me.

Covid-19 and home coffee consumption

Although the pandemic had a largely negative impact on the out-of-home coffee market, there was a boom in at-home consumption during this time.

“We saw a steep rise in home specialty coffee equipment sales,” Josh says. “Folks who shifted to working from home needed to replace their daily coffee break at a local café with something they could make at home.

“Similarly, people were looking for other ways to fill their time with hobbies,” he adds. “I remember sourdough bread baking taking off in the early months of the pandemic, and the same held true for brewing specialty coffee at home.”

To recreate café-quality beverages themselves, many consumers invested in higher-quality equipment – including premium home espresso machines and higher price point grinders. But to get the best results, it was important that consumers knew how to use this equipment.

In response to the sharp rise in at-home consumption, many roasters and coffee shops offered remote online courses or educational platforms to assist with more of the technical skills, including:

Steaming milk

Dialling in espresso

Pouring latte art

Ultimately, this has led to more informed and educated consumers – meaning the prosumer market has evolved even further.

So what’s ahead?

Josh says that many consumers – but especially the prosumer segment – have retained their interest in preparing specialty coffee at home since Covid-19.

“We have not seen a post-pandemic shift away from at-home consumption so far,” he tells me. “I think that as people have learned that a deep dive into specialty coffee doesn’t necessarily mean dropping US $4,000 on a home espresso set-up, more and more people are willing to try it out.

“A growing number of people are also drinking more advanced processing methods and boutique varieties that have become more widely available,” he adds. “They feel more comfortable trying new things because they can learn from online sources or baristas at their local coffee shop.”

Josh also foresees that the prosumer market will continue to have a significant impact on the wider coffee industry.

“Prosumers on coffee forums often post about ‘temperature surfing’ to achieve an optimal temperature range on their home espresso machines, which in turn has influenced manufacturers to improve the technology of their machines. This is just one example of how prosumerism is affecting the coffee industry, and I would argue that we’re all better off for it.

“As our understanding of roasting and brewing deepens, making excellent coffee becomes easier for more people, so more people drink better coffee – it’s a virtuous cycle,” he concludes.

As specialty coffee consumption grows, so too does the “prosumer” market – with home coffee equipment becoming even more technologically advanced and intuitive.

Simultaneously, prosumers will continue to shape the wider specialty coffee sector – and push consumer standards even further.

Enjoyed this? Then read our article on how you can make better espresso at home.

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