Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!

Spring may be coming, but I still need a cup of coffee to get myself going on these cold, gray mornings. Roughly 8 in 10 workers depend on caffeine to get themselves through the day, according to Workplace Media, a consulting firm that tracks the habits of American workers. Half rely on coffee for their daily jolt, the other half depend on caffeinated soft drinks.

"Caffeine wakes up the brain and gets the metabolism going," said Workplace Media VP Dan Wheeler. According to the National Coffee Association, 57% of Americans drink at least one cup of coffee every day; up from less than 50% four years ago. For the first time since 1980, coffee beat out soft drinks as America's beverage of choice. Driven by the popularity and success of Starbucks, coffee consumption is growing fastest among 18- to 39-year-olds.

"Americans have developed a taste for more inventive, upscale, premium-priced coffee products," noted market-research firm Mintel. Demand -- and big bucks -- have sharpened competition. Everyone from McDonald's to Dairy Queen is concocting specialty coffee drinks. McDonald's has captured 51% of fast-food coffee sales, but fast-food and other family restaurants account for only 20% of total coffee sales. More than 23% of us prefer to buy our cup of joe from gourmet coffeehouses like Starbucks. However, in a taste test last year Consumer Reports picked McDonald's Premium Roast coffee over Starbucks, which it called "bitter." Think about that next time you fork over $5 for a grade latte!