The Best Accessories for Coffee on the Go
Coffee stands as one of the most popular drinks in the entire world, alongside tea, plain water, and beer. The global coffee market is a big one, and the United States is a particularly large consumer of this hot (sometimes iced) beverage. This also means that ordinary Americans will want the most practical and convenient way to get a fine cup of coffee, especially on the go. Coffee shops are hugely popular today, and customers want a way to take their drink with them in spill-proof containers. Paper cups with lids are often the best way to go, and paper coffee cups may also come with a cardboard sleeve to protect the drinker’s hands from the hot cup’s surface. Plastic lids can help prevent spills, and these lids will have tabs to allow drinking and even the use of stir sticks. How much coffee is sold today? Why are coffee cups with plastic lids so convenient?
The Coffee Industry Today
There are plenty of stats out there to show how popular coffee is with Americans, and who drinks it and when. Today, the American coffee market is estimated to have a value close to $48 billion, and specialty drinks make up 55% of that market share. Major coffee retailers sell a lot of coffee bags and hot drinks, but the countless smaller coffee shops sell a lot too, and put together, they make for an impressive share of that market value. In fact, independent coffee shops combined sell 31% of all espresso-based drinks. As of 2014, for a fairly recent example, the United States imported an impressive 27.5 million bags of coffee, and this accounts for 25% of the world’s un-roasted coffee imports. In short, the United States is the world’s biggest coffee buyer. After all, nearly half of the entire American population drinks coffee regularly.
Coffee is a stimulant, due to its caffeine content, making it a popular drink in the morning. Nearly 65% of all coffee is consumed during the breakfast hours, with only 5% consumed with other meals and 30% consumed between meals. On average, Americans drink 1.64 cups of coffee per day, but on a busy work day, a person might consume even more. Studies have shown that coffee can indeed improve cognitive performance at the workplace, and for that reason, coffee is often brewed right there at the office. About one in three Americans drinks their coffee plain, or black, while the rest like to add cream or sugar to it for flavor.
Coffee Everywhere
It’s not uncommon for business professionals to get a cup of coffee during their morning commute, but no one would want to bring a coffee mug on board a subway or into a taxi. Instead, a person may visit any of the many coffee shops in their area, and order a cup of coffee to go. This drink will be in a paper cup, as mentioned earlier, and this cup will also have a plastic lid to help keep the heat in and also prevent spills. This makes coffee safe and convenient anywhere, and the cup and lid can be disposed of at the user’s leisure. A coffee may have the person’s name written on the cup, and iced coffee may also come with a straw or other accessories. These items, too, are disposable.
Coffee is popular among office workers, and for this reason, many offices may have a public coffee maker in the break room. This allows workers to take turns brewing pots of c coffee for everyone, and this public station may also have cream packets or sugar packets for those interested. Disposable Styrofoam or paper cups may be there too, along with stir sticks. Basic manners are involved; anyone who finds an empty pot is urged to make a fresh one, and the employees may rotate who is responsible for buying new creamer or coffee bags. This allows a coffee station to act like a sort of water cooler, except that the drink is hot and can energize workers. Even an espresso machine might be put in place if enough employees are interested in that sort of drink, too.