Brand Sharing: How Digital Natives Are Taking an Active Role in Coffee Consumption | 25, Issue 24
Green coffee sales representative and author KOSTA KALLIVROUSIS offers insights and new marketing strategies that engage “digital natives,” the postmillennial generation that is evolving the relationship between brands and consumers.
Introduction by ALVIN KIM (he/him) SCA Roast and Retail Portfolio Manager
How do you sell a physical product to a digital generation? For a coffee company tethered to a physical space, imagining a digital future might feel daunting. But adaptation might be the key to success for coffee companies, because for the first time in history, postmillennial “digital natives” are set to become the generation with the greatest buying power, a generation that has only known a world with the internet.
Specialty coffee brands have long held to the adage “build it and they will come,” but that model of old is not enough to stay ahead in today’s interconnected business environment. In other words, it’s simply not enough to have the “best quality coffee” or the best hospitality. Those things are the new standard at a time when products from around the world are at our fingertips. Instead, Kosta Kallivrousis weaves together examples of brands co-creating products and experiences with their audiences that result in greater loyalty and deeper connection. You could say, this is a new paradigm of “build it together and they will commune.”
For many brand owners, it might sound like relinquishing control of the brand’s identity or values to strangers. But as you’ll read, the opposite is true; to share your brand you need to know it deeply. To illustrate that, Kallivrousis shares examples of how coffee brands are finding new ways to engage, like community-created seasonal drinks or hosting run clubs. Some, like Chamberlain Coffee, are vetting products through their online communities and adapting them based on feedback.
Great marketers know that the best products solve real problems, ones that customers truly care about. So, don’t wait until your physical product is built to see if it succeeds, engage your customers earlier in the process—give them a peek behind the curtain. And if you’re not sure where to start, take stock of your coffee’s attributes using the Coffee Value Assessment (CVA) by recording flavor descriptors, your favorite cup characteristics, and extrinsic attributes such as producer information or certifications. Then, survey your customers or compare those attributes to sales data.
Relationships are a two-way street; tell your customers about your brand, but spend time understanding who they are. As Kallivrousis will tell you, this type of connection can build loyal customers that take an active role and “are more likely to stay with and promote brands.” Working in dialogue with customers can help you to create a voice as a brand. Audiences will find you, they’ll resonate with you, and they’ll want to join in your success.
I’ve been working in the sector since 2016 and saw an explosion of small- to medium-sized roasters starting or coming into maturity. It seemed like growth would be infinite—that is, until March 2020.
Since the Covid lockdowns, working as a sales representative for green coffee importers, I have watched clients’ business strategies flip from being café-centric—with a focus on pour-overs and the latest micro lots—to looking at other avenues like blends, grocery stores, instant coffee, and ready to drink (RTD) cold brew.[1] A new environment has been forming over the last five years and we’re at a point of transition in the way that coffee is consumed.
This shift has been hyper-accelerated by a societal migration to the digital sphere, a space fluently navigated by postmillennials, the first generation that has only known a world with the internet. This group, broadly encompassing those born from 1997 to 2012, is made up of true digital natives and is redefining what it means to be a coffee consumer, in both physical and digital spaces. This shift might sound daunting, but the coffee sector has experienced monumental shifts before, and by adopting new marketing approaches there are opportunities for coffee brands to grow alongside their consumers.
Historic Context: How Has Specialty Coffee Traditionally Been Marketed?
Specialty coffee as we know it today emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, even as overall US coffee purchases were declining. This downturn, however, coincided with a crucial shift in how the coffee industry perceived its customers. Through their work with Maxwell House, the US marketing firm Ogilvy and Mather (today known as Ogilvy) helped create the playbook that nearly every coffee company now uses to sell coffee. Kenneth Roman, the Vice President of Ogilvy and Mather at that time, summarized how the then up-and-coming generation of Americans thought of themselves differently and were looking for experiences to match their new realities. Although the sector had previously imagined Americans as a unified mass population of buyers largely fixated on price, the advertising world was beginning to understand consumers as a much more diverse group with different values. Roman told World Coffee and Tea in 1981, “We are entering the ‘me’ generation.” He said that consumers would ask a long list of questions about products, including: “What’s in it for me? Is the product ‘me’? Is it consistent with my lifestyle? Does it fill a need? Do I like how it tastes? What will it cost me?”
In a 1996 article “The Rise of Yuppie Coffees and the Reimagination of Class in the United States,”[2] the anthropologist William Roseberry wrote that Kenneth Roman was inviting coffee brands (whom he terms “coffeemen”) to imagine a market that was segmented in class and generational terms. Across different personas representing different ages, relationships, and spending patterns, he outlined how the values of each group would change, depending on their relationship with coffee in the first place. He was describing the virtues of product diversification, rather than standardization, describing the expansion of specialty coffees as a move away from mass production and consumption. Roseberry wrote of “[new] coffees, more choices, more diversity, less concentration, new capitalism: the beverage of postmodernism.”
Whether you agree with Roseberry’s reading or not, specialty coffee marketing has been dominated by narratives of differentiation and the agency of the individual consumer for decades. Since 1988, coffee consumption—and specialty coffee consumption—has seen a meteoric rise. Yet, more recently, the way that we consume media, marketing, and even coffee has drastically shifted as digital natives become a powerful economic group.
The Digital Migration Century and Digital Natives
In The Politics of Consumer Data, associate professor Robert Cluley explores how technologies from companies can shape human behavior for their benefit. He takes an example of shopping carts, which move “the pusher to become a shopper” by creating a volumetric amount of space for shopping, influencing the way customers can maneuver around a shop. In the digital age, screens are having a similar impact on the way we shop, and on the way we consume food and drink. With companies designing screens to maximize our time and attention for their platforms, it is worth looking at how it impacts modern social activities, like eating out or hanging out with friends. Thompson notes: “Only 26% of restaurant traffic are dining in compared to 39% before Covid.”[3]
This pervasive digital environment has led to a fundamental shift in how this generation engages with the world. As Marc Prensky, who coined the term, observed, “digital natives know only the digital culture.”[4] Digital natives move seamlessly from online to offline spaces, exhibiting a higher level of reliance on (and trust in) social media influencers. Today, over 54 percent of “Generation Z” (i.e., those born roughly between 1997 and 2012) report aspirations to become influencers—and universities are following suit, teaching courses and creating clubs to help students learn how.[5]
Digital natives are combining online and offline spaces to escape the confinement of physical space. The DJ Fred Again is an example of a “creator” that is using platforms like Twitch and Discord to untether from the club to produce music in real time with his streaming audience. This new hybrid environment reveals a new way that consumers are engaging: co-creation. Recently, a streamer gave Fred a 10-minute challenge to create a track based on a sample provided by someone watching. While these creative outlets may appear less physically social, they are based around online interaction, rather than simply “viewing,” blurring the line between performer and audience and the producer and the consumer.
These types of interactions give rise to the “prosumer,” a term, discussed in an earlier feature by Alexa Romano,[6] which describes individuals who actively blur the line between producers and consumers by engaging in value-creation activities. This includes contributing new product ideas, creating opportunities for consumers to truly engage, or helping to craft a brand’s identity. For brands, this evolving landscape signifies the importance of offering low-barrier opportunities for creative and engaging co-creation.
This embrace of co-creation is not merely a niche trend; it’s indicative of a broader shift in consumer behavior, particularly among digital natives, including Gen Z. Now making up 40 percent of all global consumers,[7] this generation is becoming untethered from physical spaces and from traditional marketing. In fact, some predict that marketing revenue from “creators” will surpass revenue from traditional marketing by the end of 2025.[8] Coffee brands can’t afford to ignore this—it’s estimated that Gen Z’s combined income by 2031 will surpass that of millennials.[9] If we return to Ogilvy in this current, highly digital, era, what trends is it identifying among a new generation of consumers and how might coffee brands respond to them?
“Brand Is What You Share—Not What You Sell”
In 2022, the Global Consulting Director of Ogilvy, Reid Litman, authored a playbook for brands to navigate their relationships with the growing generation. He noted that the traditional business model feels too rigid and limiting for postmillennials. “Our research reveals that, more than any previous generation, Gen Z wants to be involved in the ideation and curation of culture-led participatory moments with the brands and people they care about,” wrote Litman. “In order to build a lasting bond with Gen Z, you will need to become a brand that shares: one which not only allows for, but has in place, a digital and physical infrastructure which encourages youth to co-create and help shape the direction of the business at all levels.”[10] By involving communities from ideation through launch, brands can ensure continuous dialogue, adapt offerings, and transform feedback into an active part of their growth.
According to the report, to connect with digital natives, brands must engage them as creative partners, as this generation values genuine listening and seeks to help build solutions, not just products. Loyalty is tied to co-creation; postmillennials are more likely to stay with and promote brands that offer this, while also being quick to protest against perceived disloyalty. The traditional product cycle is insufficient for this audience, where the brand itself—rather than a “perfect product”—is the unique selling proposition. For them, the brand functions as a platform for shared experiences and co-creation, making the product a secondary outcome. By involving communities from ideation through launch, brands can ensure continuous dialogue, adapt offerings, and transform feedback into an active part of their growth.
How Coffee Brands Can Co-Create with Postmillenials
Specialty coffee marketing has traditionally followed a top-down approach, akin to the traditional innovation cycle where founders have an idea and build from there. Ogilvy’s 2022 report argues that building a brand with postmillenials is far more horizontal. It looks and feels more like friends building a signature drink together at home and online, rather than being “told” about coffee quality by someone else at a coffee shop by the barista.
How can coffee companies leverage the creative energy of digital natives? We can see one of the most explicit examples of this in coffee companies that are run by influencers themselves. Emma Chamberlain, a successful YouTuber, began a coffee brand in what she described as a “passion project.” In a Forbes interview,[11] she explained her business decisions are deeply rooted in co-creation and collaboration. She positions herself as a “home barista, just like the rest of us,” emphasizing that while she’s a “coffee snob,” the brand’s goal is to be inviting and encourage customers to “want to join our community.” Chamberlain noted that she wanted to counteract the sometimes-intimidating branding coming from the specialty coffee sector, asking, “how can I create a brand that goes completely against that feel?”
In 2023, Chamberlain Coffee launched a limited run of RTD lattes, featuring flavors like classic cold brew, vanilla, mocha, and cinnamon bun, with illustrated animals on the cans.[12] Chamberlain explained that these animals function as relatable characters, helping customers choose a flavor by relating to a specific personality. Furthermore, six months after launching the RTD lattes, Chamberlain Coffee adapted the recipes based on consumer feedback, sharing TikToks with candid, even negative, reviews. Chamberlain embraced this feedback in a Tiktok, liked by nearly 10,000 users, declaring: “I want them to tell it to my face...I won’t get offended.”[13]
Not all brands have the social capital of Chamberlain Coffee, but many are nonetheless embracing consumer participation and co-creation. Leaderboard Coffee is an international coffee game, where subscribers—either individuals or groups—receive a package of “mystery coffees” and are challenged to identify key information about each one, using their own skills and expertise, as well as a set of provided resources. The founders, Suneal Pabari from Roasters Pack and Grant Gamble from the Culture Coffee Project, describe it as a “real life arcade game.”[14] Participants can exchange knowledge, theories, and tips in an active Discord channel and, at the close of the “season,” participants can view the answers and their scores in arcade-like animated visuals on social media and Discord. Despite digitalization, some brands are finding innovative ways to connect with their neighborhoods and build connection with customers within physical spaces. There has been a proliferation of run clubs and other sports groups who use coffee spaces as their community hubs, and concerts and art exhibitions are not out of place in many cafés. As well as having an impressive online presence, Cxffeeblack connects with its local Memphis community by hosting hybrid cyber events where it often combines music, comedy, and coffee,[15] and has successfully crowdsourced over $500,000 with over 1 million dollars in funding.[16] In a social media post, Cxffeeblack co-founder Bartholomew Jones attributed its crowdfunding success to the power of its community, and promised to launch “more cuppings, more flavor experiences, more DJ sets, and more opportunities to really build coffee culture together.”[17]
Specialty coffee marketing often talks about “relationships,” but postmillennials do not want to be passive in their relationships, they want to be active participants—engaging, co-creating, and learning.
I recently interviewed Wells Coffee co-owner Brandon Wells about the growing movement of morning coffee raves across the globe. Wells Coffee hosted three, and the most recent saw over 700 people show up on a Saturday morning. It began when Brandon’s daughter mentioned to him that one of the baristas was also a DJ and wanted to do a morning coffee rave at Wells. By tapping into the creativity of Gen Z wanting to co-create, brands can leverage their creativity and networks. Specialty coffee marketing often talks about “relationships,” but postmillennials do not want to be passive in their relationships, they want to be active participants—engaging, co-creating, and learning.
Embracing New Relationships with Consumers
Just as past marketing paradigms adapted to new consumer realities, coffee brands can adjust how they navigate the digital landscape. For brands willing to embrace new styles of marketing, including creative co-creation with consumers, there are opportunities for growth. Many trailblazing coffee brands are already laying the groundwork for what this future might look and feel like.
Engaging consumers doesn’t always require extensive marketing expertise or collaboration with famous influencers; numerous co-creation opportunities exist within the coffee community itself. Café spaces are already evolving into vibrant hubs for activities, from run clubs and book clubs, to café raves, helping to build a reputation as a place for shared experiences. Businesses can directly tap into their digital—or local, in-person—communities for feedback on blend names and retail bag designs, or to suggest recipes for new drinks.
Coffee subscription services can integrate interactive games or challenges to complete with each delivery. Beyond traditional promotions, cafés might invite their social media followers to co-create and submit their own versions of the latest seasonal drink.
History demonstrates that the coffee market is sensitive to price shocks and societal shifts, but companies have, in multiple waves before this, adapted their marketing paradigm to ensure not just survival, but success. As Ogilvy shares, winning with younger generations “does not require you to give up existing relationships with older consumers, [or] forgo your legacy or identity.”[18]
Co-creation doesn’t necessarily cede brand identity to consumers; it can empower businesses to better understand the preferences of their market. Embracing the symbiotic relationships favored by digital natives may help coffee companies to design better products, create unique experiences, and cultivate greater brand loyalty. ◊
KOSTA KALLIVROUSIS is a specialty coffee professional—currently based in Athens, Greece—working with Age of Coffee. He has spent over 14 years working across the coffee supply chain, advocating equitable value distribution and stronger producer–roaster relationships.
References
[1] National Coffee Association of U.S.A. and Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), “2025 National Coffee Data Trends: Specialty Coffee Report,” https://sca.coffee/sca-news/2025-national-coffee-data-trends-report-available.
[2] Kenneth Roman in an interview for World Coffee and Tea, 1981, in William Roseberry, “The Rise of Yuppie Coffees and the Reimagination of Class in the United States,” American Anthropologist, New Series 98, no. 4 (December 1996): 765, https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1996.98.4.02a00070.
[3] Derek Thompson, “The Anti-Social Century,” The Atlantic (January 8, 2025), https://www. theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/02/american-loneliness-personality-politics/681091/.
[4] Marc Prensky, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants,” On the Horizon 9, no. 5 (2001): 1–6, https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120110424816.
[5] Lia Haberman, ““Influencer Studies” Break into the Ivy League,” The Hollywood Reporter (October 11, 2024), https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/influencer-studies-universities/cornell-university/.
[6] Alexa Romano, “From Passive to Active: Expanding Our Understanding of Specialty Coffee Consumers,” 25, Issue 21, sca.coffee/sca-news/25/issue-21/from-passive-to-active-expanding-our-understanding-of-specialty-coffee-consumerism.
[7] Reid Litman, “For Gen Z, Brand Is What You Share, Not What You Sell — Part I,” Ogilvy (October 4, 2022), p. 7, https://www.ogilvy.com/de/eng/ideas/gen-z-brand-what-you-share-not-what-you-sell-part-i.
[8] WPP Media Business Intelligence, “Mid-Year Global Advertising Forecast Update: $1.08 Trillion in 2025 Ad Revenue and 6% Growth,” WPP Media Business Intelligence (June 10, 2025), https://www. wppmedia.com/news/tyny-midyear-2025.
[9] Litman, p.7
[10] Litman, p.7
[11] Alexandra York, “What’s Brewing with Emma Chamberlain,” Forbes (April 14, 2024), https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexyork/2024/04/12/emma-chamberlain-interview-youtube-creator-chamberlain-coffee/?.
[12] Abigail Abesamis Demarest, “Chamberlain Coffee Launches Ready-To-Drink Lattes at Walmart—And Cinnamon Bun Is an Instant Classic,” Forbes (April 20, 2023), https://www.forbes.com/sites/abigailabesamis/2023/04/20/chamberlain-coffee-launches-ready-to-drink-lattes-at-walmart-and-cinnamon-bun-is-an-instant-classic/.
[13] Chamberlain Coffee (Dec 1, 2023),
https://www.tiktok.com/@chamberlaincoffee/video/7307682622342286624.
[14] Leaderboard: The Coffee Game, About Us, https://leaderboard.coffee/pages/about-us-1.
[15] Bartholomew Jones, “Sampling the Root: Afrofuturism, Hip-Hop Pedagogy, and Coffee’s Infinite Possibilities,” 25, Issue 23, https://sca.coffee/sca-news/25/issue-23-sampling-the-root.
[16] Cxffeblack (May 1, 2025), https://www.instagram.com/cxffeeblack/reel/DJHYnJrxTBz/?.
[17] Cxffeblack (May 1, 2025).
[18] Litman, p.31.
We hope you are as excited as we are about the release of 25, Issue 24. This issue of 25 is made possible with the contributions of specialty coffee businesses who support the activities of the Specialty Coffee Association through its underwriting and sponsorship programs. Learn more about our underwriters here.
