82% of Italians alternate espresso and decaffeinated. A $3 billion global market changing coffee culture
Italians don’t give up coffee. They redesign it. We’re the home of espresso, right? Well, 82 percent declare that they alternate traditional espresso with decaffeinated coffee at least once a day. This is what emerged from the Swoa (Social web opinion analysis) survey, conducted by Nescafé Dolce Gusto on 1,200 users between 20 and 50 years old. It is not a renunciation of the ritual, but rather its evolution, also dictated by the health trends of the moment.
But let’s try to broaden our horizons and go beyond the Italian panorama. We discover that the data fits into a rapidly expanding global context. According to the Global Growth Insights report, in fact, the global decaffeinated coffee market will reach a value of almost 2.7 billion dollars in 2025and is destined to reach three billion in 2026, with growth of 11 percent. The compound annual growth rate between 2025 and 2030, based on Mordor Intelligence estimates, will be around 6.6 percent. Numbers that say something more than a passing fad.
Coffee during the day
For decades, coffee was above all a “morning ritual”. Only 14 percent of Italians associated it with moments other than breakfast. Today the scenario is completely different. Almost one in two Italians manages caffeine consumption in a structured way, choosing the type of coffee based on the time and context.
Even the decaffeinated it found its precise space in the day. It is drunk especially in the evening and after dinnerfor 48 percent of those interviewed, as a ceremony that accompanies the passage towards rest. Or it is chosen in the afternoon, during work breaks (42 percent). Finally, 35 percent consume it after lunch. Not a vulgar substitute, therefore. No, it is a real café with its own location and its own defined function.
The niche in which deca fits
What emerges from the research is a profound change in cultural perspective. For 73 percent of Italians, decaffeinated coffee is a choice consistent with their lifestyle. 59 percent consider it a modern and smart option. And, listen, 44 percent even define it as a “complete” coffee, which lacks nothing in terms of taste compared to the original.
At the basis of this growth is an increasing attention to daily routine. In short, decaffeinated coffee is no longer the coffee of those who “cannot”, for various reasons, drink espresso. It has become the coffee of those who can drink it, but choose something different.
