Private investment firm expands coffee credentials by backing ‘Trade’ online speciality coffee retailer
JAB Holdings has set its sights on the growing speciality coffee at-home market by backing online speciality store, Trade. Launched in early April, the website offers US consumers a choice of around 400 roasts from 50 prominent roasters including Intelligentsia, La Colombe, Verve and Stumptown.
In a move to cater for increasingly demanding and tech-savvy millennials, the website offers a ‘curated’ selection of beans that can be delivered within 24hrs and arrive between two to four days from the roast date. The website is also furnished with brewing guides and features a range of coffee equipment for sale.
“Coffee is a $45 billion industry, with 59 percent of that now attributed to specialty coffee — an all-time high. However, today’s urban millennial that drinks specialty coffee is two to three times more likely to drink non-specialty coffee at home,” a JAB statement reads.
“With its introduction to the market, Trade is serving an unmet need in specialty coffee — providing a way for today’s coffee drinker to brew better coffee at home, while providing an opportunity for specialty coffee roasters to broaden their customer base nationwide.”
The mood reflects a global consumer trend towards e-commerce, but Trade is not the first online coffee offering for consumers. In 2011 Starbucks launched an online store for the US but ceased trading on the platform in 2017 to focus on its bricks and mortar customer experience.