COFFEE WAKE-UP CALL

LOUISE KRAMER

July 6, 2003 -- Tougher times are brewing for the U.S. coffee industry.
The sagging economy is starting to dip into coffee consumption at the office, and 18- to 24-year-olds, a prized consumer segment, are drinking far less java - the ordinary stuff as well as gourmet brands -than they did just a year ago.

In its latest annual survey, the National Coffee Association found that 16 percent of those questioned drank coffee at the office "yesterday," versus 20 percent in 2002.

Of the respondents age 18 to 24, 7 percent said they had a cup the day before, versus 13 percent in 2002.

Gains in recent years across all age groups are drying up. The survey, an annual must-read for coffee peddlers, found that 51 percent of respondents reported drinking a cup of coffee every day, compared with 52 percent the year before.

These changes are jolting coffee peddlers into action.

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