Dear Coffee Leaders and Coffee Lovers,
the last couple of days in Tampa, Florida, the North American coffee industry gathered for the National Coffee Association USA Convention 2026 - the most important annual meeting point for the coffee business in the United States.
Nearly 800 leaders from across the coffee value chain came together: producers, traders, roasters, retailers, equipment manufacturers, logistics providers and technology companies.
Walking the conference floor and following the conversations, several themes clearly dominated this year’s discussions:
☕ Coffee markets are entering a period of structural volatility
📦 Supply chains are becoming more fragile and complex
🌍 Climate, logistics and regulation are reshaping sourcing strategies
🥤 New consumption formats are expanding coffee into new beverage occasions
📊 Technology, data and infrastructure are becoming strategic capabilities
In short:
The North American coffee market - the largest coffee market in the world - is entering a new operating era.
In my keynote: “How AI, Automation and Infrastructure Are Reshaping Coffee Businesses at Scale”, I shared a perspective that emerged from many conversations during the week. The biggest impact of AI in coffee will not be robots replacing baristas. And it will not be AI inventing the next trendy drink. The real transformation will happen inside the operating systems of coffee companies.
Where AI and automation will matter most:
- demand forecasting replacing guesswork
- automated supply chain decisions in volatile markets
- inventory and cost optimization across complex networks
- integrated data from origin to consumer
- faster operational decision-making
The competitive advantage of the next decade will not only be brand or roasting expertise. It will be infrastructure. Behind the scenes, the industry must become far more agile operationally. The companies that win in the next decade will not necessarily talk the most about AI. They will simply run better systems.
Thanks to the National Coffee Association USA, all the coffee friends and industry colleagues I had the pleasure of meeting during the conference.
The conversations in Tampa sent a clear signal: the North American coffee industry is beginning to rethink how coffee businesses will operate in the future.
