STiR coffee and tea magazine

38 STiR coffee and tea | 2025 Quarter 4 Winter (Dec/Jan/Feb) Dr. Joan Salge Blake, a dietitian and nutrition professor at Boston University, recommends moderate consumption (2-3 cups of coffee a day). Photo credit: Dr. Joan Salge Blake Research that relies on self-reported coffee consumption surveys isn't always reliable and should be interpreted with caution. The Growth of Coffee Wellness Considering that the general scientific consensus is that coffee is healthy, it makes sense for coffee companies to promote this fact to their customers. Pitching coffee as healthy is not a new phenomenon: Coffee sellers have always tried to claim that their product is good for you. The French coffee merchant and apothecary Philippe Sylvestre Dufour wrote Traités nouveaux et curieux du Café, du Thé et du Chocolat in 1685, a book which extolled the various health benefits of consuming coffee, tea, and chocolate. The modern coffee and wellness industries have been cross-pollinating for years. Bulletproof coffee has been around for more than a decade, as has the now-trendy Four Sigmatic mushroom coffee company. In recent years, however, these trends have gained significant traction, as evidenced by Starbucks' recent addition of protein cof- fees to its menu. It's apparent why brands are hopping on board the health train: the global well- ness industry grew from $4.6 trillion in 2020 to $6.3 trillion in 2023, and according to a 2025 report by McKinsey, 84% of US consumers consider wellness to be a "top" or "important" priority. Growth in the industry, McKinsey found, is being driven primar- ily by Gen Z and millennial consumers. The media has helped to grow understanding of coffee's health benefits, consis- tently amplifying positive research findings. For example, a recent study linking coffee consumption to healthier aging in women was covered by major outlets worldwide, including CNN, Sky News, Euronews, and The Times of India. Survey data reflects this growth in consumer understanding of coffee and its health benefits, even if it remains a slim majority: In 2025, a NCA coffee trends report found that 51% of respondents believe coffee is good for their health. In 2017, the same survey found that just 16% of Americans were even aware of coffee's health benefits. According to café and bakery consultant Erica Escalante, growth in coffee wellness trends is dependent on geographical area and demographics. "In my work with cafés across the US, the major cities, of course, are very on top of this trend and very much into health and wellness," she says. At the same time, she notes, "I definitely work with some café businesses where their demographic has no inkling of or desire for any type of wellness associated with their coffee." Despite the increase in coverage, Escalante doesn't see many people discussing the health benefits of coffee itself. "It's more about using it as a vessel to deliver beneficial things," she says. "Consumers know they're going to spend money on a daily drinking habit, and some of them are trying to squeeze as much benefit out of it as possible." The Future of Healthy Coffee The wellness industry is enormous and continues to grow every year. It makes sense, then, that coffee companies would want to get involved. Big brands like Starbucks embracing the trend is another indicator that the wellness coffee move- ment is here to stay. After all, the global market for "functional coffee" (that is, coffees with added ingredients like pro- tein or CBD) is growing by more than 11% every year. Along with the growing body of sci- entific evidence that coffee has health benefits, the FDA's ruling that coffee it- self can now be labeled as healthy offers another incentive for companies to frame their products in a positive light. "FDA's determination provides further clarity for how coffee companies can describe cof- fee and how easy it can be for consum- ers to understand," Murray says. "Using the claim 'healthy' is voluntary, but it can provide an important option for com- municating information consumers are interested in." Escalante envisages the coffee wellness trend continuing for the foreseeable future, albeit taking on different forms. "I think some elements will always be around, but they are ever-changing," she says. "People will always be searching for ways to better themselves and their habits."

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