It’s not very often that a brand comes along and shakes up the UK coffee market. But when LEON opened in 2004, it did just that.

Founded by John Vincent, Henry Dimbleby, and Allegra McEvedy, the “Naturally Fast Food” restaurant chain now has 61 outlets in the UK and over 80 worldwide.

Its breakneck expansion has been astonishing, with a turnover of £95 million in 2018. Behind its success is a brand image that emphasises healthy eating.

Their food was initially inspired by the flavours and natural healthiness of the Mediterranean diet – a menu catering to an increasingly health-conscious customer base. Even its children’s menu is health-focused, following the Children’s Food Trust’s guidelines for sugar, salt, and saturated fat.

LEON aims to bring their healthy brand into people’s homes, too. Their cookbook series does not shy away from the bad connotations that come with “fast food”, with titles such as “Happy Fast Food”. LEON has also partnered with Sainsbury’s, selling its coffee across 493 UK stores and becoming a part of the consumers’ everyday routine.

Sourced from Honduras and Peru, they boast “rainforest-saving coffee”. Through a partnership with the World Land Trust, 1m² of forest is saved for every seven cups of coffee drank. So far, 2,000 acres – an area bigger than Monaco – have been saved.

Yet, LEON is not trying to conform to the ethical conventions of specialty coffee.

There is no focus on the farmer or the origin of their coffee. As such, it is differentiating itself from specialty coffee – with traceability being a cornerstone of the specialty industry.

Instead, they lead with a commitment to sustainability, reforesting, and wildlife conservation. In this way, with recognisable words like “organic” and “Fairtrade”, LEON’s coffee is becoming more accepted into the mainstream.

With just two coffees – the Dark roast and the Blonde roast – the impression LEON has made on the UK coffee market is all the more laudable.

A recognisable approach to sustainability

The UK coffee market is compact. Big brands need to work that much harder to set themselves apart from the competition.

Out-of-home coffee consumption is yet to reach pre-pandemic levels, according to the latest research from the National Coffee Association USA. Among the respondents, 83% reported having coffee at home – a 4% increase from January 2020; while 35% reported drinking coffee away from the home – down 6%.

This suggests that at-home consumption remains a major market – a market within which LEON has made itself a significant contender.

Moreover, the average supermarket consumer is allowed to feel like they are making the sustainable choice when choosing their coffee – an important factor in the UK coffee market. Working with Puro Fairtrade Coffee to ensure sustainable sourcing, their coffee is triple certified: organic, Fairtrade, and supports the World Land Trust.

On the shelf alongside other popular brands, LEON’s packaging shouts “ethical choice”.

However, specialty coffee drinkers may be harder to win over. According to a study in the British Food Journal, they have an increased awareness of the environmental and social problems that come with their cups of coffee, encouraging a more inquisitive approach to sourcing sustainable coffee.

The same research suggests that these consumers perceive chain coffee to be of low quality. As sustainability is embraced by large companies, such as LEON, specialty drinkers are unlikely to passively accept the promises made.

Reactive and transparent marketing

The key to LEON’s success is knowing its audience. Words like “Fairtrade” and “organic” do not carry much weight among specialty consumers. Instead, they look for traceable, socially responsible sourcing, with terms like “direct trade” and “micro lot” having greater importance.

Yet specialty drinkers continue to be a very small segment of the UK coffee market, despite its loud voice. In turn, LEON has used words that make it the sustainable choice for a wider audience.

Savvy branding and a good understanding of their customers made LEON one of the most attractive businesses in the UK coffee market.

This became evident in 2021 when EG Group spent £100 million to acquire LEON. The company announced that the acquisition would result in the creation of 4,000 new jobs over three years.

Once a popular brand is acquired in such a way, aggressive growth can propel it into the mainstream, as demonstrated by LEON’s subsequent rapid expansion with a target of opening 20 new stores a year.

Beginning with a set of values grounded in healthy fast food, LEON had aligned itself with modern, health-conscious consumers from the start. Environmental and wildlife conservation were incorporated into their image as ethical consumers began to carry more influence in the UK coffee market.

LEON has remained reactive to changes in consumer behaviour and attitudes, enabling it to stay ahead of competitors and carve out for itself a segment of the UK coffee market.

Coffee companies must be reactive – whether adapting to a global pandemic, new technology, supply shortages, or new sustainability regulations.

In the future, we will see sustainability more prominently incorporated into business strategies, especially with incoming regulations that directly impact the coffee industry.

What LEON has shown us is that, through sharp market knowledge and transparent marketing, businesses can set themselves apart from the competition.

The rise of fine robusta blends

For many hospitality businesses, 2022 threw up a number of challenges, from Covid-19 lockdowns to skyrocketing energy bills.

Extreme weather conditions and the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine also caused the price of coffee to rise, which left roasters and café owners with a difficult decision: to pass on the higher costs to customers or switch to cheaper alternatives.

This dilemma will continue to hang over businesses as a new year rolls around. However, for those who want to avoid raising their prices, arabica-robusta blends will likely become a more ubiquitous item on menus.

Historically, robusta has been considered an inferior product, and processing systems in many producing countries still lag behind their arabica coffee equivalents. But robusta’s affordability has made it the subject of extensive research (it is around half the price of arabica).

In line with this trend, we can expect to see greater attention on high quality – or “fine” – robusta, which some in the industry already believe has massive potential.

Higher, not lower, coffee shop footfall

Tight budgets aren’t just a concern for businesses – consumers are also battling rampant inflation. Widely referred to as the “cost of living crisis”, it has seen rising energy bills and soaring food costs, among other things.

Although the expected fallout from this is a drop in out-of-home coffee sales, opinion is divided. Some believe the market could shift (like it did during the pandemic) and people will drink more coffee at home.

However, others suggest consumers will do the opposite. Rather than curb spending on small luxuries, such as a takeaway coffee, a number of industry experts think people will treat themselves to more of them, as they cut back on other, more expensive purchases, such as cars, holidays, and meals out.

The quest for the ultimate sustainable coffee

A remarkable – if somewhat controversial – product to emerge in 2022 was beanless coffee – upcycled ingredients that replicate the characteristics of coffee without the inclusion of any actual coffee beans.

While beanless coffee isn’t necessarily the answer to the coffee industry’s climate crisis, we can expect to see many more companies continuing putting forward solutions as sustainability enters a critical phase.

Capsules also remain a popular at-home option, particularly as more eco-friendly biodegradable and compostable options flood the market.

However, they are set to face stiff competition, not from other capsule manufacturers, but from new formats such as 100% compostable seaweed coffee balls.

More room for automation

While some trends are previously unheard of, others build on years of momentum. And, with rising energy costs and continued labour shortages threatening to bring down businesses, one area that has become increasingly important is automation.

Not only has automation helped successful café chains grow, such as Pret A Manger, it has also brought consistent, high-quality coffee to more places, from pubs and hotels to offices, service stations, and airport lounges.

Perfectly steamed milk together with a full-bodied shot of espresso is no longer the preserve of specialty coffee shops – it can now be achieved with the touch of a button. And for coffee shops, it provides baristas with more time to have more meaningful discussions at a point when competition has never been more fierce.

There’s an environmental benefit, too. Research suggests that the energy-saving potential of superautomatic coffee machines versus traditional espresso machines is high, thanks to features such as standby mode and motion sensors. Expect automation to continue taking off in 2023.

A modular future

The emergence of modular coffee machine systems is redefining how coffee is made both at home and in cafés. Essentially, a modular system is a deconstructed espresso machine divided into several “modules”, each capable of performing a specific function.

Typically, this streamlines the coffee bar and enables greater flexibility than a large, traditional espresso machine. For instance, the Heylo modular system is divided into a Coffee Module and a Milk Module. Depending on the needs of a café or home barista, they can be arranged or added on as required, improving barista workflow and overall efficiency.

The Coffee Module facilitates full brewing control, giving the user options to create custom recipes and flavour profiles. Both modules use electromagnetic induction-heating technology, which can help reduce energy consumption.

Furthermore, flow and pressure control allows users to fine-tune flow rate and the level of pressure at various stages during brewing.

At the same time, a smart alarm installed in the machine notifies users when custom recipes need adjustments throughout the day. Its small form makes it portable, and plug-and-play functionality makes it suitable for markets and mobile coffee vans.

Get ready to see a lot more of them in the next 12 months.

From meditation sessions and lunchtime yoga to team walks and spontaneous days off, workplace wellness is all the rage.

Broadly defined as activities, programmes, and policies designed to support healthy behaviour in the workplace, it has become an increasing priority for companies.

The annual CIPD survey found that 69% of respondents sometimes feel miserable, exhausted, lonely and under excessive pressure at work.

A focus on workplace wellness can help turn this around and, ultimately, contribute to healthier, better-performing staff, higher productivity and morale.

Apart from physical activities and benefits, workplace wellness can also include more intangible initiatives. These can include greater flexibility to deal with work-life balance, enforcing zero-tolerance policies for workplace harassment or providing workers with training.

Kevin Burnham, co-founder of the Workplace Wellness Company agrees: “I believe that the health of a business is equal to the health of its people”.

“The notion that you can be truly productive and fulfilled at work whilst also being worried about your health is in my opinion foolhardy.”

Even with mounting evidence, he notes that many employers still do not consider the health and well-being of their staff or how this has a direct impact on their business.

The power of coffee

A 2021 survey featured in the research paper Coffee in the workplace: a social break or performance enhancer? found that almost half of respondents worked more than eight hours a day, 40% accumulated different professional activities and 50% worked night shifts.

As such, coffee was central to their work routine, not only to help them stay awake and be more productive but also as a social release.

Coffee, and to a larger extent coffee breaks, allowed them an opportunity to decompress, move around, chat with colleagues and bounce ideas off one another. All of which, as the paper notes “may have a positive impact on both intellectual and relational performance”.

While this may all seem more beneficial to employees than employers, research by McKinsey & Company indicates that 85% of employees feel that quality coffee increases productivity, which, of course, has a direct impact on a company’s bottom line.

In addition, a survey of UK employees also found that more than 80% of those who drink higher-quality coffee at work intend to stay at their company for at least the next two years.

A big boon for any firm that wants to keep its employee turnover rate low.

Coffee also brings a company together as a whole. An employer who provides wellness benefits, such as quality coffee to staff, is more likely to be respected by employees.

This small act fosters a sense of kinship in the workplace.

“It’s a sociable and wellness-supporting addition to a productive and fun work environment,” Kevin says.

Of course, coffee also offers other physical benefits aside from keeping individuals from nodding off at their desks.

As Kevin notes: “Recent studies have proven what many of us have suspected for a long time; that apart from caffeine helping you stay alert, quality coffee also provides us with many health-promoting compounds.

“Research suggests that those who drink three to five cups of coffee a day live longer than those who drink less or none at all. This is just one reason to support the provision of great coffee at work.”

Other health benefits of consuming coffee include improved asthma control and a lower risk for liver disease and cancer. While other studies have found that it may also help prevent type two diabetes.

The modern-day “coffee canteen”

“From a purely practical perspective, providing great coffee at work saves hours of lost productivity,” Kevin says.

He is right, of course. A recent survey by Alterra Coffee Roasters found that 65% of office workers drink an average of three cups of coffee per day.

If each person had to leave the office every time they wanted a quality cup of coffee, productivity would certainly decrease in the long run.

Indeed, companies are concerned with the cost of such a perk and not all can afford to have an in-house barista.

But, thanks to innovative technology, they don’t have to. Today, there are a number of options between a highly skilled barista and a tin of instant coffee.

Contemporary superautomatic coffee machines can serve up espressos (and many other coffee drinks) that are on par with a café.

As Nick Mabey of Volcano Coffee Works noted in a recent New Ground interview, quality coffee is now available at the click of a button.

“Advanced and accessible bean-to-cup technology is probably what changed the game for all of us,” he explains. “The bean-to-cup machine allowed for what people perceived as ‘barista-like coffee’ in terms of espresso, and the flavour and the texture that it offers. We owe that technology more than people think.”

One such superautomatic coffee machine is the Carimali SilverAce. A popular choice for offices and other establishments, the SilverAce delivers quality coffee time and time again.

Not only is this cost effective for offices, but it can also help buoy staff’s morale. And you can’t put a price on that.

Since the first Italian immigrants arrived following the outbreak of war in Europe, Australia has led the way when it comes to global coffee trends.

Hailed for their commitment to innovation and respect for independent businesses, Australians have helped shape coffee cultures around the world – while also introducing the flat white.

If you step into a Melbourne coffee shop today, one of the latest trends you’ll find is the practice of freezing roasted coffee in small batches.

It’s believed that this process can keep coffee fresher for longer, enabling businesses to store successful roasts without compromising on quality.

To successfully freeze roasted coffee beans, they need to be stored in an airtight container or in vacuum-sealed packaging, leaving little to no oxygen behind.

However, research is still ongoing regarding how long coffee can be frozen, and the process still faces several limitations, making it a divisive topic in the specialty coffee sector.

Jim Brady is an SCA-certified trainer and professional coffee roaster. He suggests that first and foremost, the benefits of freezing coffee need to be measured against the technology used to do it. He says that while there may be clear benefits for businesses, home consumers face various limitations.

“Do you store your $40 bottle of sesame oil in the freezer?” he asks. “The true benefits are often lost to the use of lesser equipment and or packaging.”

“Not a gimmick”

There are two main reasons for freezing roasted coffee beans.

First, coffee beans begin to age as soon as they’ve been roasted.

During roasting, coffee beans absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). In the days and weeks after roasting, the beans “degas”, releasing CO2 until they ultimately go stale.

It’s generally advised to brew coffee between 3 and 14 days after the beans are roasted. However, that’s not always possible, especially for businesses that roast in bulk.

That’s where freezing comes in. If the coffee beans are frozen, research suggests that they can hold their flavour anywhere from three months to a year.

Former World Barista Champion Hugh Kelly asserts that freezing coffee isn’t a gimmick nor a “WBC trend”.

“What we do know is that freezing coffee allows us to stop the cellular activity in coffee particles completely,” he told the BeanScene Mag. “This means that we can capture or lock in the peak flavour window of the coffee, freeze it at that point, and stop the age-old problem of coffee going stale.”

At the time, Hugh was working with ONA Coffee, founded by another former WBC Champion, Saša Šestić. ONA has been a key driver in experimenting with freezing coffee, encouraging other Australian roasters to follow suit.

ONA vacuum packs its frozen coffee and has found that, even after a year, the flavour of frozen coffee shows little change.

Further research has found that grinding frozen roasted coffee beans results in a more uniform grind size, among other benefits. This ensures better particle distribution during brewing and less chance of under or over-extraction.

This can help coffee shops maintain consistently high standards. Furthermore, a business can cut costs by buying in bulk and still always have freshly-roasted coffee on hand. 

At the end of the day, some coffee professionals also believe that this technology will contribute to making the coffee supply chain more sustainable. If the process is perfected, it’ll allow producers to deliver certain coffees out-of-season, reducing wastage and better preparing the industry for the effects of climate change.

Will the trend catch on?

“As a rule of thumb, I have always been cautious about the freezing of coffee from a consumer perspective,” Jim says. “I would say the challenge would be manufacturing equipment that could produce commercial quality for residential use and had a marketing campaign designed to educate the consumer based upon the data.”

For more insight into the process, he reached out to his friend Anne Cooper, a coffee roasting consultant at Equilibrium Master Roasters in Australia. According to Anne, there’s a lot of misinformation about freezing roasted coffee.

“She said there were some retail efforts to utilise coffee directly from the freezer,” Jim explains. “However, communication about the process and any benefits were often lost.”

In her experience, it’s something that many coffee businesses are still experimenting with. For example, she told Jim that Proud Mary Coffee in Portland, Oregon, keeps its coffee grinders in the freezer – hopper and all – ensuring frozen beans can be ground on demand.

This is because once removed from the freezer, the coffee must be ground straight away before its cellular structure begins to change.

“Roasted coffee will retain 2-3% moisture which, when frozen, can have an impact on a multitude of chemical processes like Strecker Degradation and cellular dissolution,” Jim explains.

This moisture can also wreak havoc if the beans warm up, possibly causing them to become rancid or otherwise unpleasant to drink.

In fact, there is a whole number of issues that businesses need to address if they plan to freeze coffee. A company would need to invest in large freezers, which not only take up lots of space but also use huge amounts of energy to run.

At this point in time, these factors outweigh any possible cost benefits for most coffee businesses. Jim is also curious as to why the technique hasn’t already been more widely adopted.

“I am interested in why – if there are so many benefits – traditionally cold climates like Scandinavian countries haven’t piloted a process and a marketing initiative around the technology,” he notes.

Ultimately, he concludes that the industry faces a huge challenge if this technology is indeed to become mainstream.

“I would say the challenge would be manufacturing equipment that could produce commercial quality for residential use, and having a marketing campaign designed to educate the consumer based upon the data,” he says.

Since the introduction of the very first espresso machine well over a century ago, inventors and tinkerers have been striving to perfect and adapt it for a range of applications.

Today, coffee consumers have a lot in common with these early innovators. For instance, convenience is high on the list of customer expectations – the same expectations that drove inventors to speed up the coffee brewing process, ultimately resulting in the first espresso machines.

However, coffee machine technology has come a long way since then. In the modern world, many hospitality businesses turn to superautomatic coffee machines to satisfy consumer demand. But what are these complex yet convenient devices?

On a fundamental level, superautomatic coffee machines differ from their semi-automatic counterparts in that they can prepare a coffee-based drink in its entirety. Typically, this includes grinding, dosing, and milk frothing.

Superautomatic coffee machines have helped revolutionise the coffee industry by being safe, easy to use, and capable of more than simply brewing coffee. Among other things, this has enabled consumers to save both time and money, and it’s even empowered them to brew high quality espresso at home.

Furthermore, for those working in coffee shops or other hospitality environments, superautomatic coffee machines have made daily life much easier. Baristas can now brew multiple coffees at once with perfect consistency, enabling them to focus on other aspects of their workflow, such as customer engagement.

As a result, superautomatic coffee machines can be found in homes, hotels, coffee shops, bars, and restaurants, with different models suited to different needs.

How exactly do superautomatic coffee machines work?

Each espresso machine differs, and as such, the operator should always pay attention to the instructions given. Having said that, however, these machines are generally very easy to use.

On the simplest level, the user simply adds water to the machine’s reservoir, adds milk to its milk chamber, pours espresso beans into the grinder, and turns the machine on. All that’s left to do is press a button.

Modern superautomatic espresso machines like the Carimali SilverAce even boast intuitive touch-screen interfaces that allow the user to customise drinks at will. Among other things, such machines can adjust grind size, brew temperature, and even the ratio of coffee to milk.

On command, the machine grinds the beans and heats the water (and milk where required) to make the coffee.

The easiest way to understand the inner workings of these machines is to follow the flow of water. After the user has added water to the reservoir, it flows to the pump. There are two kinds of pump commonly used in superautomatic espresso machines: the vibratory pump and the rotary pump.

With the former, an electric current moves a piston, which subsequently forces water where it needs to go. In the case of a rotary pump, a motor spins a disc that generates pressure to achieve the same result.

Vibratory pumps are more common in home espresso machines, whereas rotary pumps are usually found in commercial machines.

Once the water is pressurised, it’s pumped to the boiler, where it’s heated to the required temperature. From here, the hot water heads to the grouphead, where it infuses with the tamped and ground coffee before pouring into the cup.

The entire process is governed by highly sensitive software that ensures the correct pressure, temperature, and brew time are used.

When it comes to steaming the milk, the machine either may use a single boiler with two thermostats, meaning the user has to wait for the espresso to be pulled before they can froth the milk.

Machines on the higher end of the market may contain dual boilers – one for espresso and one for milk – so the user can froth the milk while the espresso is being pulled, saving time.

The future of superautomatics

With coffee machine technology improving all the time, it makes sense that a lot of work is put into creating the best possible products. According to Antonello Ferrante, research and development director at Carimali, the company uses a high-level committee to decide how to improve its machine portfolio.

“We consider the orientation of the world market, new trends, and the habits and tastes of the new generation of people,” he explains. “The world of super-automatic coffee machines is always looking for new opportunities to attract customers. Carimali is moving in parallel directions.”

First, the company is focusing on connectivity and telemetry. Antonello explains that using the CARIcare system, Carimali customers have access to a kind of “hotline” that allows them to download product information and maintenance guidelines.

Furthermore, this software allows users to remotely program their machines, enabling them to change brewing parameters across multiple locations, which is especially useful for coffee shop chains.

Automatic adjustment of the recipe parameters to guarantee the quality of the beverages set at the installation. The new generation of coffee machines must adjust the quantity of ground coffee and its granulometry by sophisticated algorithms.

The second direction involves embracing sustainable culture and the explosion of the plant-based milk market.

“Fresh milk is an essential product that has to be dispensed with superautomatic coffee machines,” Antonello explains. “In the HoReCa market, machines with fresh milk are very appreciated.”

Carimali’s latest machines can prepare beverages based on both dairy and plant-based milk. This is essential, because the quality of frothing depends on the percentage of dairy or plant-based milk proteins.

Some of these machines also avoid cross-contamination by containing separate refrigerated milk chambers, each with their own pipes and circuits.

Antonello adds that the self-cleaning steam wand is another feature that will become more and more common with superautomatic coffee machines.

“Not only do they further reduce the risk of cross-contamination, but they also protect the distinct flavour of the milk,” he adds.

Ultimately, he feels that home users are set to benefit the most from superautomatic coffee machines.

“The superautomatic domestic machine has a lot of benefits,” he says. “There’s the medium cost of the equipment, variety of beans available, and the integrated grinder. The user can personalise his espresso by choosing the different grinding times, and an easy system to froth the milk is normally available.”