Thus far, 2017 has been a very good year for the coffee industry. America’s favorite hot beverage (and sometimes cold, too) continues to dominate the market thanks to innovative new products emerging alongside our long-time favorites. Interestingly enough, we have noticed that some of the 2017 trends predicted toward the end of last year have not come to fruition. Others certainly have.

Below are three coffee industry trends to keep an eye on through the remainder of 2017. All three are showing good promise as ongoing trends of the future rather than merely flashes in the pan.

1. Cold Brew Replaces Iced Coffee

Iced coffee enjoyed a lot of success when it was first introduced. However, there is something a bit unseemly about pouring a hot beverage over ice, thereby diluting its flavor as the ice melts. Enter cold brew. Cold brew coffee has been gaining ground on its iced counterpart since the start of the year.

The appeal of cold brew is a medium bodied flavor without the bitterness of hot brewed coffee. And for those who love iced coffee, cold brew is a product that invites them to enjoy their coffee without having the flavor diluted by melting ice.

2. Nitro-Infused Coffee

Take your favorite coffee drink and put it on tap and you will create a very interesting beverage that coffee lovers are flocking to try. That’s right, infusing coffee with nitrogen and serving it from a tap is the coffee equivalent of beer on tap. Restaurants and cafés are loving this new drink because they can serve it to customers without as much cream and sugar. Coffee drinkers are warming up to it because nitrogen-infused coffee has a frothy, foamy head and a texture that is very similar to its alcoholic cousin.

3. Socially Packaged Ready-to-Drink

The third trend is only half about coffee. The other half is about packaging. We are seeing a trend among makers of ready-to-drink products focusing heavily on new options for packaging that make their products really pop on the internet. What’s behind this trend? The tendency of people to share every aspect of their lives on social media. Ready-to-drink coffee makers want packaging that looks attractive in photos so that when customers take selfies or snap pictures of themselves having a meal with friends, their products look good in those pictures.

Creating packaging that looks good on social media is marketing genius. Social media is now the number one way people communicate with friends and family, and the truth remains that a picture is worth 1,000 words. Creating something that looks good when posted to social media can only help boost a brand.

Here at Galaxie Coffee, we will be keeping an eye on the trends for the remainder of the year and into 2018. In the meantime, we invite you to consider us for your office coffee service. We carry a full range of hot and cold beverages, breakroom supplies, and janitorial supplies.