The proportion of Australian grocery buyers saying they bought instant coffee (excluding decaffeinated products) in an average four-week period between April 2011 and March 2016 fell from 59.1 per cent to 49.4 per cent, according to Roy Morgan Research.
Over the same period, the proportion of those saying they bought fresh coffee in a four-week time frame rose from 28.2 per cent to 30.2 per cent.
Nescafé remains the most popular instant coffee brand, at 49.7 per cent market share, followed by Moccona at 33.6 per cent.
“Although more grocery buyers are purchasing fresh coffee than they were five years ago, this growth hasn’t been steep enough to be responsible for instant coffee’s total decline,” Roy Morgan Research Industry Communications Director Norman Morris said. “The continued rise in café visitation could also be a factor, with an ever-increasing proportion of the population going to cafés for a coffee or tea in any given three months. A growing trend towards coffee pods may also have contributed.”
However, Mr Morris says the growth of smaller brands suggests that the future of instant coffee is not all negative.