Coffee: What to expect in 2022

The Covid-19 Pandemic is still with us as we leave 2021 behind and enter into a New Year, but what will 2022 have in store for us with regard to coffee, after all for many coffee, chocolate and sweet stuff has been a lifeline in keeping our feet on the ground and our sanity in check.

Sadly, the pandemic has affected the crop of coffee, not so much in growth, as in how it is harvested with many of the people who’d usually harvest the crop affected by the virus and kept in isolation. A shortage of harvesters has meant that there is a shortage of supply and that in turn has led to an increase in cost for the growers, shippers, manufacturers, marketers and retailers and ultimately to us, the consumers. And don’t think it will come down anytime soon, experts in the industry expect the price of coffee to remain high well into 2023.  

Another trend that is emerging in the world of coffee is that of sustainable coffee and conscious consumers aware of how their favourite drink is produced and the impact it has on the tropics where coffee beans are grown. People are becoming increasingly more savvy to using reusable cups and recycling coffee grinds and following news about sustainable projects around the world. Similarly, the dominance cow’s milk is increasingly being challenged by a larger variety of milk alternatives. In 2021 oak milk has overtaken almond milk as the non-diary milk of choice in the United Kingdom. There are already dozens of choices but in the next year expect to see potato milk make a good showing…and don’t worry potato milk doesn’t taste like potatoes. There are some solid environmental reasons why potato milk could be a good thing, after all it takes around half the land to grow the number of potatoes it needs to make the milk as it does for oak milk.