{"id":559027,"date":"2026-07-20T13:09:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T13:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/559027\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T13:09:08","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T13:09:08","slug":"coffee-drinkers-turning-to-whole-beans-as-prices-soar-says-lavazza-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/559027\/","title":{"rendered":"Coffee drinkers turning to whole beans as prices soar, says Lavazza \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coffee <\/a>drinkers are buying \u201cless but better\u201d as prices soar, according to Italian roaster Lavazza, fuelling demand for whole beans and bean-to-cup machines.<\/p>\n

Giuseppe Lavazza, chairman of the family-owned company, said a move towards whole beans was the sector\u2019s \u201cmost important trend … People are looking for beans and they enjoy maybe to replicate at home the experience of the coffee shop\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe they prefer to consume a little less but better,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

UK whole-bean coffee sales rose 20.3 per cent by volume in the year to May, far outstripping growth of 2.8 per cent across at-home coffee overall, according to Nielsen data. Bean sales climbed 36.8 per cent by value, while unit sales of bean-to-cup machines increased 33.5 per cent.<\/p>\n

The shift comes after four years of upheaval in coffee markets. Bad weather and weak harvests pushed both arabica and robusta prices to records in 2025, forcing roasters to raise prices repeatedly. UK prices of coffee for home consumption rose another 6.3 per cent in the year to May, according to Nielsen.<\/p>\n

The simultaneous rise in both varieties also reduced roasters\u2019 ability to contain costs by replacing more expensive arabica with robusta, traditionally the cheaper bean used in instant coffee and espresso blends.<\/p>\n

The growth in whole beans extends beyond the UK. Sales rose 35 per cent by value in France, 33 per cent in Italy and 31.2 per cent in Germany in the year to May, according to Nielsen figures.<\/p>\n

Lavazza said Germany, Europe\u2019s largest coffee-drinking market, was furthest ahead, with beans now a bigger segment than traditional roast-and-ground coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are looking for better experiences, even at home,\u201d he said, pointing to demand for machines capable of making cappuccinos, flat whites and longer coffees.<\/p>\n

The move extends a trend that accelerated during the Covid-19 pandemic, when cafe closures and homeworking prompted households to spend more on coffee equipment. The continued growth in both beans and machines suggests that the habit has persisted after consumers returned to offices and coffee shops.<\/p>\n

US data points in the same direction, although the shift is less pronounced. Whole-bean unit sales rose 3.2 per cent in the 52 weeks to June 27, according to NielsenIQ, while pod sales fell 4.9 per cent and ground-coffee sales declined 3.9 per cent.<\/p>\n

Although arabica and robusta futures have retreated from last year\u2019s peaks, Lavazza said the market remained too unstable for the group to start reversing its retail price rises.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe think there is not time to think about a possible cut in prices,\u201d Lavazza said. \u201cThe possibility of another increase of price lists is not totally over.\u201d<\/p>\n

The industry needed at least two strong harvests in Brazil and Vietnam to rebuild depleted inventories, he added, noting that unexpected rainfall had slowed Brazil\u2019s current harvest, while frost, El Ni\u00f1o and other weather risks could still disrupt supplies.<\/p>\n

He said farmers were also in a stronger financial position after several years of high prices and could afford to hold back coffee rather than sell immediately, while roasters, meanwhile, were buying cautiously as they waited to see whether prices would fall.<\/p>\n

The coffee market had undergone a \u201cfundamental transformation in terms of supply and demand\u201d, Lavazza said. \u201cVolatility is the new constant of our business environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lavazza generated revenues of \u20ac3.9 billion in 2025, up 15.7 per cent, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 8.8 per cent to \u20ac340 million.<\/p>\n

The group is also trying to protect its position in single-serve coffee as consumers move towards beans and US pod volumes decline.<\/p>\n

It plans to launch Tabl\u00ec in the UK in September, a system that replaces the plastic or aluminium casing of a conventional pod with a small tablet made entirely from compressed coffee.<\/p>\n

It remains a portioned, single-serve format that requires customers to buy a dedicated machine. But Lavazza argues that removing the shell avoids the waste and recycling problems associated with conventional capsules.<\/p>\n

\u201cCapsule is over,\u201d Lavazza said. \u201cThis is a new benchmark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Coffee drinkers are buying \u201cless but better\u201d as prices soar, according to Italian roaster Lavazza, fuelling demand for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559028,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,13109,61,60],"class_list":["post-559027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-coffee","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}