For two decades, the coffee industry seemed on an unstoppable march towards a globalised future dominated by US and European brands exporting coffee and café culture to new audiences around the world. But today, many of these successful businesses are under severe pressure as high costs erode profitability and long-held business models are undermined by soaring coffee prices. Tobias Pearce explores how coffee businesses in consumer markets are adapting to new economic realities – and whether the global coffee industry as we know it will ever be the same again

The 2010s were a golden era for the business of coffee and hospitality. Large coffee chains, roasters and independents alike were riding high on coffee’s booming cultural capital. Investors were hungry to buy into an industry that had demonstrated over 20 years of growth and showed no signs of slowing. With quality on the rise, developing markets in Asia and the Middle East presented lucrative new frontiers for international growth.