Discussions about the negative effects of caffeine have always been a hot topic, but studies on the coffee and tea industry show that Americans are not slowing in their consumption of these trendy drinks!

The coffee shop boom of the mid 90's bred over 108 billion coffee drinkers in the US by offering a seemingly unlimited amount of new, gourmet coffee choices. With so many new enthusiasts, it's no wonder that coffee shops are still the fastest growing part of the restaurant business with an annual growth rate of 7%!

Tea is an equally prevalent player in this market - there are over 2,000 tea houses nation wide, compared to only 200 a decade ago and tea sales reached $6.2 billion last year, more than quadruple their level in the early 1990s, according to the Tea Association of the USA. One big reason: recent research has shown that tea, particularly Green tea, is loaded with antioxidants that supposedly can help ward off ailments such as heart disease and cancer.

Obviously the trend and demand for these beverages is still strong, so it seems natural that as a caterer, you should certainly be able to generate some additional revenue by adding some coffee and tea options to your menu. While it may seem hard to provide the quality and number of choices that consumers are used to getting on every street corner, the good news is that the call for fancy gourmet lattes is taking a slight slide in favor of a basic, really good cup of Joe, and that hot tea is a low-cost beverage - over 200 cups can be brewed from a single pound of loose tea leaves.
Facts and figures  drawn from www.coffee-statistics.com and www.zarafina.com

For more information about preparing, storing and serving great coffee or tea, check out these links with  COFFEE TIPS and TEA TIPS.