Coffee stand as one of the most popular drinks in the entire world alongside tea, beer, and plain water, and this makes for an enormous market for this beverage around the world. Similarly, soup is a nearly universal food item, and this liquid food can be conveniently carried to work or school in a portable container. In other cases, soup consists of dry ingredients in a plastic bowl that can have water added and then heated. Instant soup or even noodles can be prepared like this, making soup a very flexible lunch option. While soup is popular at a workplace cafeteria or break room, coffee is another liquid that is found nearly everywhere, alongside its accessories. Sugar and cream packets, paper cups, plastic lids, and stir sticks can be found everywhere for coffee, and many coffee shops exist across the United States.
The Market for Coffee
There is a worldwide demand for coffee, and the United States today stands as the single largest market for it. Back in 2014, for a fairly recent example, the United States imported nearly 27.5 million coffee bags, an impressive total. This alone accounted for 25% of the world’s un-roasted coffee imports in that year. Overall, this means that the American coffee market has a value of $48 billion, with specialty drinks making up 55% of that market share. And while there are a number of large and well-known coffee chains in the United States, small and independent coffee shops have a generous share of this overall coffee market. In fact, independent coffee shops collectively earn $12 billion in yearly sales, and many of them may offer unique blends or ingredients that other retailers might not.
Who is drinking all this coffee? Nearly 150 million Americans, roughly half of the entire population, drinks coffee, whether on occasion or regularly. Among all Americans, people drink an average 1.64 cups of coffee every day, and among dedicated drinkers, this figure is even higher, at 3.1 cups per person. Most often, coffee is consumed during the breakfast hours, since this drink is a stimulant. Around 65% of all coffee is consumed with breakfast in the United States, and about 30% is consumed in between meals. Only a paltry 5% of coffee is drunk during other meals, whether brunch, lunch, or dinner. Coffee can be drunk plain, or “black,” or it may have sugar or cream added for flavor. Around 65% of Americans like to add sugar or cream to their coffee, and the remaining 35% have their coffee black.
How to Drink
Some Americans prepare their coffee at home, but others would rather get their drinks on the go, such as on their way to work or college classes. Business professionals and college students may typically stop by coffee shops to get a drink to go. Coffee ordered from a shop will probably be served in a disposable paper cup that comes complete with a cardboard sleeve to keep the drinker’s hands safe from the coffee-heated paper. These portable cups will also have plastic lids on them, both to trap the heat inside and also prevent spills or leaks. This means that a drinker can sip their coffee while walking, or bring it with them into a taxi, bus, or subway, no spills or hassles involved. These cups can later be disposed of in trash cans or recycling receptacles.
Coffee and Soup at Work
At the office, there will probably be a break room for employees, and here, they may find a microwave and a coffee station. A microwave is great for heating up soup or creating instant soups or even ramen, and this may also take place at a college campus’s cafeteria. Many college students may find public microwaves for preparing their own food.
Meanwhile, an office’s break room may come complete with a coffee station, where employees can prepare and pour coffee. The employees may rotate responsibility for buying paper or Styrofoam cups, stir sticks, sugar and cream packets, and grounds bags. Anyone who finds an empty coffee pot is urged to fill it, regardless of rotation, and everyone should help keep the coffee station clear of spills or messes. Leftover trash such as sugar packets should be disposed of right away.
