Why Craft Brands Are Warming Up to Decaffeinated Coffee

The decaf caffeine craft movement is growing, with specialty roasters like Explorer Cold Brew and Verve aiming to elevate the long-ignored option. Houston-based coffee maker Weihong Zhang of BlendIn Coffee Club won the U.S. Brewers Cup for his decaf pour-over, marking the first time in the competition’s 20-year history that a decaf brew won the top prize. Demand for decaf is strong across the country, with about 26 million Americans drinking it daily.

Decaf only drives a small portion of sales for many coffee brands, but some companies like Explorer Cold Brew and Verve say they are seeing an increase in sales in the category. They attribute this to a few factors, but a common thread is that many people are trying to be more conscious of how much caffeine they put in their bodies as part of an increased focus on health and wellness. As coffee roasters experiment with different brewing techniques and flavor profiles, there’s been a greater variety of innovations in the category.

The boom also comes amid a threat to the conventional decaf coffee many Americans currently drink. In March, the FDA received a call from advocacy groups to ban a popular European decaf brewing method that uses a chemical called methylene chloride, which OSHA considers a potential carcinogen. The European method is used by many popular coffee brands, including Starbucks, and is considered safe by the National Coffee Association (NCA). However, many specialty coffee roasters, including chains like Peet’s, use another method known as the Swiss Water Process, which omits methylene chloride and removes 99.9% of caffeine through water and heat — to decaffeinate their beans. According to these companies, using the method requires heavier investment but is a long-term growth bet as more people look for healthier alternatives to their favorite decaf blends.

Coffee brands that have invested in premium decaf coffee are seeing growing demand across various demographics. New York-based Explorer Cold Brew brand launched a new line of low-caffeine ready-to-drink cold brew due to rising interest and customer requests. Since its launch, Explorer has generated over $5 million in sales at an annual 81% year-over-year growth rate. Verve, CEO of craft coffee roaster Verve, started out with its Vancouver decaffeinated beans back when Verve launched in 2007. Decaf has always been about 5% of sales, including on DTC, but demand has picked up for Verve’s decaf business in the last year in particular.

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