Roasting coffee for profit

Roasting coffee for profit

This time period from the mid-19th century to the late 20th century is considered the "Dark Age" of coffee by many experts. Coffee's Middle Eastern mystique faded as it became commercialized and, quite plainly, commonplace throughout this time period.

In the 17th century, coffee was a drink loved by all socioeconomic classes in England. Instead of seeing coffee as a luxury enjoyed by the wealthy in their social clubs, the impoverished considered this warming beverage a vital part of their diet, either as an appetite suppressant or as a replacement for a hot meal of some kind. Large corporations formed to profit from the coffee commodity were just a matter of time given the rapid growth of technology.

Coffee was traditionally roasted at home or at a coffee shop. Stir-frying green beans till brown in an iron skillet over a fire was a Middle Eastern tradition. In certain coffeehouses, the beans were roasted in a cylindrical device hanging over a fire with a handle that rotated the beans. In order to guarantee that the coffee was constantly fresh, both these processes were only able to roast a few kilograms of coffee at most.

Coffee roasting technology, on the other hand, quickly advanced with the advent of the industrial revolution and mechanisation. Larger amounts of coffee could now be roasted using commercial coffee roasters that were being developed. The few could now supply the requirements of the many when it came to coffee.

Coffee's first wave of commercialization began in the United States. The first commercially accessible containers of ground and roasted coffee were sold by John Arbuckle in 1865. In comparison to other coffee roasters, Ariosa's brand was distributed over a much greater territory. For example, Arbuckle's coffee became known as a regional product instead of only being sold locally. A number of regional roasters were established by the time of World War I, including enterprises like Hill Brothers and Maxwell House. Customers paid a premium in terms of freshness for these enterprises' ability to provide reliable quality and easy packaging for use at home. The final product may not be delivered to the customer for weeks or even months.

Glutinous or gelatinous materials might be used to extend the shelf life of freshly roasted coffee. Immediately after roasting, the beans would be coated in a protective glaze. For example, John Arbuckle's 1868 patent for a coffee glaze included the following ingredients per 100 pounds of coffee: one quarter of a quart of water, one ounce of Irish moss, one half ounce of isinglass, one half ounce of gelatine, one ounce of white sugar, and twenty-four eggs. Over the years, Arbuckle tried a variety of glazes before deciding on a sugar-based glaze. Because of his need for such large amounts of sugar, Arbuckle decided to start his own sugar company rather than pay others to provide him with it.

So why did people purchase this coffee in the first place? Coffee loses its flavor rapidly when it is ground, so it should be drank as soon as possible after it is ground (at the very latest, within 48 hours). However, we were living in the era of the brand, and brand loyalty was more important than ever before. In certain cases, local roasters may create good coffee, but they could also make bad coffee that includes a variety of adulterations. Consumers desire confidence in the products they purchase. They wanted their coffee to taste the same every time they drank it.

Kenco was the first coffee brand to make its way to the United Kingdom. The Kenyan Coffee Company was established in 1923 in Sloan Square (London) by a cooperative of Kenyan coffee producers to supply high-quality coffee beans across the United Kingdom. Customers loved their coffee (renamed Kenco in 1962), and their store quickly became a success.

Coffee was about to become a whole lot worse. Regional roasters turned into national and international roasters as their desire for profit got stronger. Coffee has traditionally been made from the 'arabica' kind of coffee plant. Between Gabon and Angola on Africa's west coast, the French and Portuguese started cultivating a distinct species of coffee bush in the 1850s, called "robusta." Historically, because of their easier cultivation and lower flavor, Robusta beans were less expensive than Arabica beans. Coffee roasters began combining robusta and arabica beans in greater numbers in order to save money.Additionally, they roasted the coffee for shorter periods of time in order to preserve its rich flavor without sacrificing quality.

As a result, when instant coffee was introduced, coffee fell to its lowest point in terms of quality and flavor. Even though George Constant Washington made the first commercially available instant coffee in Guatemala in 1909, Nestlé is usually considered to be the inventor of instant coffee. Nestlé contacted the Instituto do Café (Brazilian Coffee Institute) in 1930 with a request for aid with their coffee excess. A new coffee product, they reasoned, would help boost global coffee sales since it was soluble in hot water yet preserved its flavor. Nescafé was released on April 1, 1938, in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, after seven years of study and tasting by chemist Max Mortgenthaler.

It has been suggested that the debut of commercial television in 1956 was a major factor in the popularity of instant coffee in the United Kingdom. For a quick cup of coffee, the commercial breaks were too short to boil a cup of tea. Tea bags, invented by Thomas Sullivan more than half a century earlier, were widely used in business by the 1960s, which lends credence to this assertion (1904). In comparison to traditional loose leaf tea, tea bags were considered more handy, easier, and faster to use, and, as such, could compete with instant coffee.

A strong connection between commercial breaks and caffeine use was quickly recognized by the coffee business, which subsequently ramped up its television advertising budgets. Nescafé Gold Blend was the subject of one of the most well-known campaigns in the history of coffee commercials. When these ads debuted in 1987, they depicted the passion between Anthony Head and Sharon Maughan as it played out in a little soap opera. Everyone in the country was captivated by the commercials, which were as often discussed as Eastenders or Coronation Street. Gold Blend's sales increased 40% in the first five years of the initial marketing campaign, which lasted for 10 years (there were two further, less successful, sets of advertisements with different actors). These adverts had such high prominence that they even made the front page of the 'News at Ten'.

Coffee sales stagnated as a result of the coffee industry's concentration on price rather than quality. Drinking coffee had become a caffeine fix rather than an enjoyable pastime, and it was consumed during breaks from work rather than while having a conversation or reading the paper. People born in the 1970s and 1980s, who grew up drinking sugary soft beverages like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, have mostly abandoned bitter coffee in favor of sweeter alternatives.