Big business brewing in NYC’s coffee market

Wake up and get your tickets to The New York Coffee Festival 2016, which will be twice as big and robust as its first show last year – and indicative of the huge growth in New York’s coffee market.

According to Jeffrey Young, the festival’s founder and an industry veteran who has been analyzing trends for 18 years, coffee is showing unprecedented growth in New York City. “The amount of new openings has absolutely been crazy,” he said, citing a 20 percent increase in coffee shops in the city in one year. He says it’s part and parcel with the city’s love of coffee and for the “caffeinated lifestyle and a taste for the best things in life.”

New York is probably the most caffeinated city on the planet, Young said, with 25 million cups of coffee sold every day. And that number is growing rapidly.

In assembling the New York Coffee Guide Book 2017, which be released at the fest to be held at the 69th Regiment Armory from September 16th to 18th, Young says they learned a great deal about the evolving coffee market in the Big Apple. “At least 30 of the 160 best coffee shops in the book were not here last year.”

“There are few parts of the economy that have been growing at that pace,” Young said.

But not just any coffee will do. New Yorkers taste buds are growing more nuanced by the minute, Young said. It’s the boutique coffee companies, such as Gregory’s Coffee, and micro brands such as Bluestone Lane, Birch, and Irving Farm that are giving Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts a run for their money.

“New Yorkers are saying ‘we always loved coffee, but now we really love great coffee.’”

Even Starbucks is doing reserve coffee. And Dunkin Donuts launched their cold brew this summer as the once gourmet specialty became mainstream in 2016.

But there’s more to look forward to as the public’s tastes continues to evolve: Nitro cold brew, which is cold brew infused with nitrogen to create a foamy, creamy texture.

And plenty more of the matcha – the finely ground powder made from high-quality green tea, perfect for lattes and smoothies – that made a big entrance in the market this year.

“There will be quite a lot of [matcha] at the festival. Not everyone wants coffee, but they might want a coffee experience,” said Young.

“The boutique companies – the Blue Bottle and Stumptown brands – unique coffee venues are adding more wholesale accounts and supplying to hotels and restaurants. They just can’t give out standard coffee because it’s truly a culinary product.”

The three-day New York Coffee Festival will be featuring 70 of those boutique, gourmet and micro brands that are shaking up the industry.

And no coffee house experience would be complete without some high-minded artistic expression. This year’s festival will also feature a concert series called Coffee Music Project, visual art exhibits and installations, The Latte Art Live, as well as the Coffee Masters NYC barista championship. Tickets for the New York Coffee Fest start at $20 and can be purchased online at www.newyorkcoffeefestival.com.