Will the Coffee Shop Culture Survive in the Post-Pandemic Era?

You might have to say goodbye to your favorite coffee shops.

Living in the fourth largest coffee-producing countries in the world, it’s not hard to find a good cup of coffee in every corner around my city — And I’m not talking about Starbucks — there are many local coffee shops offering their best services and products for the customers.

Like any other millennials, I love to spend my time in coffee shops, whether just to chill out with a couple of friends or do some writing. Whether writing in a coffee shop really boost my creativity or not — As anyone else said — I like to write there just simply because of the different atmosphere, and I’m just into coffee very much.

When I received a notification on my smartphone telling a huge spread of a new kind of Virus in China, I didn’t really read it, as I thought it wouldn’t affect me somehow. But it turns out to change almost everything in my life. One of the things that changed because of it is my habit of writing in coffee shops, it’s been months since I said hello to my regular barista, and one time I drove in front of the store, it was closed. I called the owner and asked him about how the business going, I vividly remember he said “We barely even surviving, the rent is due already”. It was sad to hear that, and I couldn’t imagine myself spending time at home all day without going to coffee shops.

The question is whether the coffee shop culture will make it after the pandemic times?

Walking in a very thin line.

During my college years, I have been working as a part-timer in Starbucks, and I’m still keeping in touch with my friends who are still working over there. I talked with a friend of mine — A store supervisor — who told me the story that even the biggest coffee shops chains like Starbucks itself barely surviving, he told me that 2 stores in the city have been closed, and the sales drop rapidly.

The government restrictions according to Covid-19 responses have decreased more than half of the income, also, even though the government put lesser restrictions — Just to give the business to breathe — the people aren’t just going to coffee shops anymore.

When Covid swept my country, I was stuck at my home, and I was frustrated by the fact that I couldn’t enjoy the things that I used to do anymore, it was felt more like a shock. I didn’t write for months, and just spending my days watching episode after episode on Netflix, I said to myself, “Well, I can’t get some inspirations by stuck in my room” that was my justification for my pandemic times writer’s block. But as the day goes by, I’m getting more and more used to it, I write again, and I don’t feel any differences with writing in coffee shops.

My friends who are working in some companies are also feeling the same thing, at first they hated to work from home, then later, it becomes their new life-styles. Most of them even hated if one day they needed to go to the offices again like they used to. Over years people have been romanticizing working in coffee shops, how great writers spent their time writing in coffee shops, or how a great team conducts a meeting in the coffee shop as well. After months of lockdown, and doing our jobs from home is also still do-able, and favorable by the majority.

The trend tends to go backward.

When it comes to innovations, it’s endless, new things are coming every day, but sometimes the trends tend to get backward. I’ll explain it to you.

Back then people were tired of radio because you can only hear it, then there’s the tv era where it solved that problem, now you can see and hear the entertainment at the same time, fast forward again, Youtube was built, at that time people were starting to ditch their TVs. Not long from now, the podcast things were blooming, from Spotify to Clubhouse — Which is basically, we’re going back to the radio era again.

In drinking coffee, it’s also the same, when the first time coffee was found, without any sophisticated equipment they had to brew it manually, then later after the Second World War, people were starting consuming instant coffee, then a guy named Howard Schultz changed how people drink coffee with Starbucks, as he said on his book Onwards:

“We take something ordinary and infuse it with emotion and meaning, and then we tell its story over and over and over again, often without saying a word.”

I wasn’t a fan of instant coffee either, I said to myself that coffee should be brewed manually to make it more interesting — To put soul inside of the beverage. But when the lockdown started to hit, I couldn’t get that get any manual brew coffees, I could spend to buy the equipment for home brewing, but that would cost me a fortune, so I’m stuck with instant coffee, and it turns out that it’s not that bad.

When I was working at Starbucks, I barely touch the espresso machine, because people keep ordering the same thing over and over again — Yes, your favorite Frappucinos — I guess, when it comes to hanging out in a coffee shop, people just need some spaces to do some work or just talk with a couple of friends, most of them don’t really care about if they drink coffee or not.

You might have to say goodbye to your favorite coffee shops.

As sad as it sounds, it is what it is, there will always coffee shops after the pandemic era, but most of them are struggling to be able to survive, as they had to adapt to the current situation, for instance, Starbucks itself has promoted their home brewing coffee beans and equipment to boost their sales, but still, there are lots of stores closed already due to the decreasing demands.

The coffee shops culture itself will still exist, although it would be much different from the one that you familiar with, with lots of healthy protocol, going to coffee shops to do some works might not be convenient like it used to be anymore.

As always, when one trend dies, another trend has born.

Hi I’m Kenny and I had promised myself to write for you frequently, and hopefully give you some insights through my writings. Join me in becoming the best version of ourselves.