According to the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), Speciality coffee is coffee that receives more than 80 points on a 100-point scale.
Though it is assumed that Speciality coffee is a recent development, some say as early as the 1900s, businesses such as the Hotel du Crillon in Paris requested that their coffee be purchased from specific micro-lots on certain farms in particular parts of Guatemala. The term's popularity grew following its appearance in The Tea & Coffee Trade Journal in the 1970s.
The overall value of coffee retail sales worldwide, according to Euromonitor (a market research company), was US $180 billion in 2019, and sales are expected to increase by another US $12.5 billion by 2023. As per reports released by The Brainy Insights ( a market research company)the market for Specialty coffee is predicted to grow from USD 53.67 billion in 2021 to USD 152.69 billion in 2030, with a forecasted CAGR of 12.32% between 2022 and 2030. This is attributed to the growing American Specialty alternatives, Specialty coffee shops & roasters, rising disposable incomes & expanding urbanization.
The study reports on a grading segment divided into 90–100, 85-89.99, and 80–84.99 scales, of which the 85-89.99 segment had the largest market share with 39.12% and a revenue of 20.99 billion in 2021.
It is to be remembered that the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA) reported the growing global demand for Ethiopian Speciality coffee. According to the ECTA, revenue from Specialty coffee grew to a 60% share of total export revenue in FY2021/22, compared to a 35% share in the 2020/21 Ethiopian FY. With the ICO’s (International Coffee Organization) forecast, with consumption exceeding production by 3.1 million bags, an increase in demand for specialty coffee will be expected in the 2022–23 coffee year.
Sources: https://perfectdailygrind.com/2022/12/is-specialty-coffee-growing-faster-than-consumption/
