Coffee, The New Romantic Gift?
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As I am writing this on Valentine’s Day – the holiday of love and romance – I’m reminded of an unusual, yet fascinating study on global coffee and travel habits of frequent travellers. The study was commissioned by the Paris-born Le Meridien Hotel & Resorts as it planned to instill more than 100 Master Baristas at its hotels and resorts around the world as part of a strategy to meet growing coffee-culture demands. One of the key findings was that coffee surpassed sex as the ideal wake-up call — according to more than half (53%) of the global respondents.
The study also revealed that global travellers drink more coffee when they are away from home, and an astounding 78% said they would rather give up sex with their spouse, alcohol or social media for one year than forfeit coffee. (Although, the study is a few years old and social media has evolved so much, I wonder if respondents today would be as quick to give up social media over coffee…) Furthermore, a majority (51%) felt they could go longer without sex than without coffee. Curiously, there did not seem to be a question asking if respondents would give up their smartphones over coffee…
According to the Le Meridien study, coffee drinkers are addicted to their morning coffee ritual — 54% of respondents brew their coffee at home. And apparently, consumers like their coffee even more in bed. Amora, a subscription-based coffee company based in New York, conducted its first Valentine’s Day survey this year, which found that consumers consider coffee in bed equally romantic as an expensive dinner out.
“Amora means love so we wanted to ask our consumers what love and romance means to them as it relates to coffee,” said Marina DiDomenico, co-founder of Amora. “Coffee can be very romantic especially when it’s given by someone you care about – it’s the gift that keeps on giving each and every day.”
The good news for Amora and all marketers of coffee for home brewing is that 76% of respondents prefer making coffee at home as it’s more cost efficient. Nearly half of respondents claim they consume coffee every morning and can’t start their day without it. Most of the respondents prefer full-bodied, rich, dark roast coffee amongst any other flavour.
So, the takeaway here may be that not only is a “coffee bean buzz” the ultimate high, it seems, many consumers find the gift of coffee just as romantic as flowers, chocolate or a Michelin-starred restaurant. Just a thought for next year’s Valentine’s Day…
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