Specialty coffee reached 45% of American adults on a past-day basis in 2024, edging traditional coffee at 44%. At the green-coffee level, the 2024 Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide reports a $3.50 median FOB price for the 2023/24 harvest year, with prices varying sharply by quality, lot size, and origin.
Contents
- U.S. specialty coffee consumption
- Green coffee contracts and prices
- Quality scores and FOB prices
- Lot size and specialty coffee value
- Origins, volumes, and country differences
- How specialty coffee consumption is changing
U.S. specialty coffee consumption
The SCA 2024 NCDT Specialty Coffee Breakout Report found that 45% of American adults drank specialty coffee in the past day. The same measure was up 80% since 2011. In 2024, specialty coffee therefore moved ahead of traditional coffee on this daily measure: 45% compared with 44%.
The age distribution shows especially strong participation among younger adults. Among Americans aged 25–39, 66% drank specialty coffee in the past week. Regional results also differed: the Northeast recorded the highest past-week specialty coffee consumption at 61%.
Specialty coffee drinkers also reported more cups per day than traditional coffee drinkers. The average was 2.8 cups daily for specialty coffee drinkers, compared with 1.8 cups for traditional coffee drinkers. These are consumption averages from the SCA report, not estimates of total coffee volume sold.
Key U.S. consumption measures
| Measure | Specialty coffee statistic |
|---|---|
| American adults drinking specialty coffee in the past day, 2024 | 45% |
| American adults drinking traditional coffee in the past day, 2024 | 44% |
| Increase in past-day specialty consumption since 2011 | 80% |
| Adults aged 25–39 drinking specialty coffee in the past week | 66% |
| Northeast past-week specialty consumption | 61% |
| Average cups per day among specialty drinkers | 2.8 |
| Average cups per day among traditional coffee drinkers | 1.8 |
Source: SCA 2024 NCDT Specialty Coffee Breakout Report.
Green coffee contracts and prices
The 2024 Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide relies on data from 123 companies headquartered in countries around the world. It summarizes almost 105,000 contracts covering more than 2 billion pounds of green specialty coffee.
The guide’s current three-harvest-year sample covers 44,651 contracts totaling 788.05 million pounds. The prior three-harvest-year sample was larger, with 60,040 contracts totaling 1,224.914 million pounds. The two samples describe different three-year windows, so their contract and volume totals should not be read as a single continuous series.
For the current three harvest years, the median FOB price was $3.48 per pound. The comparable median across the prior three harvest years was $2.75 per pound. FOB refers to the green coffee price at the stated shipping point; it is not a retail price paid by a consumer for roasted coffee.
The annual figures within the current period were:
- In 2023/24, 11,786 contracts covered 191.35 million pounds, and the median FOB price was $3.50 per pound.
- In 2022/23, 15,214 contracts covered 270.95 million pounds, and the median FOB price was $3.40 per pound.
- In 2021/22, 17,651 contracts covered 325.75 million pounds, and the median FOB price was $3.50 per pound.
For 2023/24, the middle half of reported FOB prices ran from $2.76 per pound at the 25th percentile to $4.68 per pound at the 75th percentile. The median was $3.50 per pound.
Across 27 quality-and-quantity buckets, the median FOB price in the 2021/22–2023/24 window was higher in every case than in the 2018/19–2020/21 window. The average increase in median price across those buckets was $0.85 per pound. The reported average median increase was $0.70 per pound for regular specialty coffee buckets and $0.75 per pound for fancy specialty coffee buckets.
Quality scores and FOB prices
The 2023/24 data shows a strong relationship between quality band and median FOB price. The median rose from $2.29 per pound in the 80–81.9 point band to $8.82 per pound for coffees scoring 88 points or more.
The quality bands did not contain identical volumes or contract counts. The 80–81.9 band included 617 contracts and 28.77 million pounds. The 82–83.9 band included 2,222 contracts and 67.35 million pounds. The 84–84.9 band included 1,747 contracts and 33.95 million pounds.
Higher scoring bands had smaller reported volumes in this sample. The 85–85.9 band covered 1,219 contracts and 18.34 million pounds, while the 86–87.9 band covered 3,301 contracts and 17.71 million pounds. The 88+ band covered 749 contracts and 2.25 million pounds.
| 2023/24 quality band | Contracts | Green coffee volume | Median FOB price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80–81.9 points | 617 | 28.77 million lb | $2.29/lb |
| 82–83.9 points | 2,222 | 67.35 million lb | $2.65/lb |
| 84–84.9 points | 1,747 | 33.95 million lb | $3.02/lb |
| 85–85.9 points | 1,219 | 18.34 million lb | $3.61/lb |
| 86–87.9 points | 3,301 | 17.71 million lb | $4.38/lb |
| 88+ points | 749 | 2.25 million lb | $8.82/lb |
Source: 2024 Specialty Coffee Transaction Guide.
Lot size and specialty coffee value
Lot size was another major dividing line in the 2023/24 FOB data. The median price for lots over 40,000 pounds was $2.59 per pound, based on 2,788 contracts and 142.41 million pounds. Lots of 10,001–40,000 pounds had a $3.00 median, with 1,517 contracts and 33.71 million pounds.
Prices increased as the reported lot size decreased. Lots of 3,001–10,000 pounds had a $3.52 median across 1,747 contracts and 9.53 million pounds. Lots of 1,001–3,000 pounds had a $4.00 median across 2,345 contracts and 4.17 million pounds.
Microlots under 1,000 pounds had the highest median in the lot-size table: $4.78 per pound. Their sample contained 3,389 contracts but only 1.53 million pounds. This contrast illustrates why contract counts and pounds tell different stories: smaller lots can produce many contracts without representing the largest share of physical volume.
The guide reports a $2.21 per pound difference between the median for lots under 1,000 pounds ($4.80 in the cited comparison) and the median for 40,000+ pound lots ($2.59). In the combined quality-and-size table, the 88+ point microlot bucket reached a $14.18 per pound median FOB price in 2023/24.
Origins, volumes, and country differences
Origin-level results vary widely. In the current three-harvest-year country table, Panama had a $21.34 per pound median price, compared with $2.40 for Brazil. Panama’s median therefore exceeded Brazil’s by $18.94 per pound. The same table reported a median quality score of 89.5 points for Panama and 83.0 points for Brazil.
The country table also showed a large difference in typical lot size: Panama’s median lot size was 158 pounds, while Brazil’s was 21,164 pounds. These differences in quality score and lot size provide important context for comparing country medians; the figures are not a standalone ranking of every coffee produced in either country.
| Country or origin measure | Median price | Other reported measure |
|---|---|---|
| Panama | $21.34/lb | 89.5 median quality points; 158 lb median lot |
| Ecuador | $5.86/lb | — |
| India | $4.95/lb | — |
| Kenya | $4.48/lb | — |
| Rwanda | $3.76/lb | — |
| Brazil | $2.40/lb | 83.0 median quality points; 21,164 lb median lot |
In the combined current three-harvest-year data, Africa had the highest median price in 12 of 19 quality-and-quantity buckets. When Brazilian coffees were excluded, the median FOB price for South America rose to $3.49 per pound.
The current three-harvest-year country table also records substantial contract and volume totals for several major origins. Colombia accounted for 7,300 contracts and 114.04 million pounds. Guatemala accounted for 4,894 contracts and 105.94 million pounds. Peru accounted for 4,219 contracts and 88.23 million pounds. Nicaragua accounted for 2,593 contracts and 70.85 million pounds, while Ethiopia accounted for 3,505 contracts and 60.33 million pounds.
How specialty coffee consumption is changing
The SCA 2024 NCDT Specialty Coffee Breakout Report recorded year-over-year growth in both espresso-based and non-espresso specialty beverages. Espresso-based specialty beverages were up 4% year over year, while non-espresso specialty beverages were up 7%.
Ready-to-drink was the third most popular preparation method among past-day specialty coffee drinkers. Ready-to-drink specialty coffee preparation was up by more than 83% since 2023. The report’s preparation-method figures describe how past-day specialty coffee drinkers prepared or consumed their coffee; they do not provide a retail revenue estimate.
Taken together, the figures show a specialty category with broad U.S. participation and a wide range of green-coffee economics. Consumer data places specialty coffee at 45% of past-day American adult consumption in 2024, while transaction data shows 2023/24 median FOB prices ranging from $2.29 in the 80–81.9 quality band to $8.82 in the 88+ band, with the highest reported price appearing in the 88+ microlot bucket at $14.18 per pound.