Explore three major coffee trends from SCA.
The 2022 Specialty Coffee Association Expo took place in Boston, Massachusetts from Friday, April 8th through Sunday, April 10th. The expo is known as North America’s largest gathering for the specialty coffee industry. This year’s expo included over 420 exhibiting companies and over 10,000 people attended the show.
Throughout the show, attendees could explore booths featuring ready-to-drink coffee, coffee creamers and milks, coffee manufacturing equipment, coffee syrups and coffee beans from around the world. While walking the show, we found three major trends: sustainability, origin stories and dairy-free alternatives.
Sustainability
Sustainability is a huge initiative for a lot of companies. At the Specialty Coffee Expo, exhibitors showcased sustainable solutions like eco-friendly packaging, sustainable coffee and clean label products made with simple ingredients.
At the Kerry Foodservice booth, we soft-launched the DaVinci Gourmet line of clean label syrups, which use only simple ingredients always. We know cleaner labels will resonate with operators and consumers alike as people look for products with recognizable ingredients.
Origin Stories
Consumers are very interested in where their food and beverages come from. Many exhibitors at the show included coffee roasters and coffee bean suppliers from all over the world – especially various countries throughout Africa and South America.
The Café Femenino Foundation, for example, provided information on their ethical sourcing model which empowers women coffee farmers from around the world. In 2020, Kerry was able to fund a grant to replace unhealthy kitchens for women farmers in Colombia. Through this program, the women coffee farmers can have safer home environments and continue their leadership roles within their coffee cooperatives.
At the Kerry Foodservice booth, we served up a Banana Cream Chai, proudly made with Oregon Chai Concentrate. Our Oregon Chai products are made with natural ingredients sourced from farms and plantations where organic agriculturists foster recyclable resources and promote ecological balance.
We also showcased Kerry coffee solutions, including Colombian cold brew, nitro cocoa infused coffee, espresso roast and medium roast house blend on tap and a ready-to-drink cold brew product concept. Kerry is proud to be the exclusive extraction partner of the Café Femenino coffee program.
Dairy-free Alternatives
There were plenty of companies featuring plant-based milk alternatives. We saw brands showcasing more traditional plant-based alternatives like soy and almond, as well as up-and-coming milk alternatives such as oat and sesame milks. As consumers look for more personalized options for their coffee, offering different types of dairy-free options is crucial for operators.
At the Kerry Foodservice booth, we showcased Big Train dairy-free mixes which are also fortified with BC30™ probiotics for gut health benefits. Utilizing a ready-to-use blended coffee mix makes it easy to offer dairy-free options to customers.
It’s an exciting time in the specialty coffee industry – Specialty Coffee Expo shared that this year’s show was the most attended in over two years. At Kerry Foodservice, we look forward to innovating and creating the best products for operators to serve on their menus.
