Has Coffee Marketing Become Health Food Marketing

We all know coffee is a full on phenomenon. It’s so much more than a way to get going in the morning. It’s a drink. It’s a dessert. And now it’s a health food. Like so many other beverages, coffee brands are attempting to make exciting new brews and with the health benefits consumers crave. Brands like Purity Coffee, Jus by Julie, and Bullet Proof Coffee are attempting to make coffee and health synonymous and consumers are definitely paying attention. Purity Coffee is a new brand that is on a quest to bring consumers “the world’s healthiest coffee”. As part of their mission to educate consumers about the health benefits of coffee, they gather and publish information about the truly astonishing array of health benefits. Among the findings is coffee’s ability to prevent Type II Diabetes and decrease the risk of various forms of cancer up to 50%. Purity prides themselves on their 3-step Purity Process that takes only the highest quality organic green coffee beans and turns them into customized roasts ensuring drinkers the maximum health benefits. 

For serious coffee lovers, adding flavored creamers is unthinkable, but adding butter to their Morning Joe is beginning to appeal to a whole new audience of drinkers-dieters.

 Dave Asprey, founder of Bulletproof Coffee started this seemingly outrageous trend and has rapidly gained followers. The special blend of high quality coffee, unsalted grass-fed butter, and coconut oil results in a “super power” cup of coffee that provides you with increased energy levels for up to six hours and a source of healthy fats that program your body to burn fat as energy all day long. Adding coconut oil to the mix provides your body with MCT’s (medium-chain triglycerides), a unique form of fat that requires less energy and enzymes to be digested. This combination of healthy fats from the butter and oil promises improved cognitive function, weight loss, and increased energy. 

Continuing the trend of adding ingredients to beverages to classify them “functional”, Jus by Julie has made the first vegan probiotic cold brew.

 Without changing the taste, Jus by Julie combines their cold brew with 1 billion CFUs of probiotics, creating a functional coffee beverage that is believed to support immune and digestive health (sort of like kombucha). Knowing that on average Americans drink 3 cups of coffee a day, adding health benefits of probiotics could be a big win for coffee drinkers and a bigger win for the brand. 

While the Coffee craze isn’t new, the idea of “coffee for health” is just getting started.

 Providing consumers evidence that the behavior they already indulge in might be good for them is a marketing dream come true. Consumers love to have the behavior they are already doing reinforced. And unfortunately, I’m no exception. I feel happy to know that I can feel really good about my 2 cups of java a day. Maybe it will be come 3 or 4.