Twin Cities coffee roasters see pandemic-fueled growth

Our collective need for caffeine while WFH is fueling growth for some Twin Cities coffee roasters.

Driving the trend: With office closures confining many workers to their homes, we've all looked for ways to replicate the coffee shop experience.

The state of play: Peace Coffee says it sold 17% more coffee in 2020 than it did in 2019, even though it closed three Twin Cities shops and saw food service sales drop 60%.

• Bizzy Coffee, a Minneapolis-based cold brew company, doubled its net sales year over year, going from shelf space in 100 stores nationwide to close to 1,000. Online orders tripled, per co-founder Alex French.
• "People wanted to up their coffee game," Peace Coffee CEO Lee Wallace said. "They got really interested in: 'How do I make a better cup of coffee at home?'"
• Grocery demand soared. Peace introduced a bigger, 20-ounce bag of beans and Bizzy rolled out new flavors.

The big picture: The trend is a bright spot for one slice of the local food and hospitality sector, which has been battered by pandemic closures.

• But we don't know if customers will stick to their new routines once they head back to the office.

This story first appeared in the Axios Twin Cities newsletter, designed to help readers get smarter, faster on the most consequential news unfolding in their own backyard.

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