4:30 on a Thursday,
I’m in and out of meetings, driving, Stop Trying to Be God by Travis Scott playing through my car speakers. My mind drifts again to the same thought that’s been bothering me for a while now:
Where is the end point of our industry?
As I’ve gotten deeper into the roasting side of things, I’ve begun to piece together a missing half of my perspective. After 5–7 years as a café owner, I now find myself closer to competitions, auctions, and the industrial backbone that supports what the average person experiences as “coffee” during a cafe visit. And seeing that crop-to-cup machine in motion—feeling like it’s hidden just behind a thin grey veil, just out of reach to the average consumer—has only fueled a question I’ve been working through the past year:
Where is the peak for our industry?
Being a cafe owner a successful shop with rather abnormally large reach (something I cannot take credit for) for more than a fleeting moment, I’ve had the privilege to get to know thousands of individuals in our industry. I’ve seen it all. I truly have. I’ve met and, in some cases, become extremely close with individuals who have topped the world stages of competition, I’ve met farmers, producers, importers and fellow owners. I know owners of roasting companies on fire and I know some whose companies are fading into irrelevancy without them even realizing. I’ve gotten to personally teach, mentor and coach dozens of baristas - a lot of which have gone on to do quite well for themselves. And across all those relationships, there’s a common thread:
A self-imposed ceiling.
It’s everywhere. From logistics to World Brewers Cup, from gear manufacturers to tiny cafés. Everyone, eventually, seems to hit it. And worse, many leave the industry burned out, disillusioned, or worse: empty hearted-while being full handed with awards and achievements.
Progress or Illusion?
There’s never been a repeat barista champion. Or brewers champion. Or roasting champion.
Every year brings a new dripper, a process, a lot everyone’s excited about. It’s predictable. The other month, Best of Panama happened with its accompanying auction. And just like every year, auction prices broke previous records. Again. And we celebrated. Again. As if we’re witnessing real progress.
Now—before you rush to email me accusing me of rage-baiting: yes, we’re thrilled to see farms finally get recognition for their year-round labor. They deserve every dollar and every headline. But let’s not pretend those milestones represent deep industry growth.
Especially when 80% of farms remain one bad season away from financial collapse.
Our competitions are full of brewers, gear companies and corporate sponsors only concerned with a game of inches. This dripper has a 73 degree slope angle instead of 60 degrees, that oat milk has no seed oils, this scale tracks your flow rate and not just your time. All these things are inherently good, yet we haven’t seen industry innovation that shatters our prior knowledge of coffee so hard the entire industry is forced to evolve and accept a new reality arguably since Hario launched the v60 in 2005.
2005.
Seriously.
Try me.
What has happened in our industry that forced small and big shops from Charlotte NC to Copenhagen to scramble to reach the newly established standard? What’s the last piece of innovation that made cafés from Charlotte to Copenhagen scramble to keep up?
A new forming system:
The SCA feels like it's becoming a for-profit shell of itself. Industry leaders are scrambling for acquisitions. We laugh at “two co-ferments walk into a café” reels on Instagram and mistake it for real community.
Every year:
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A farm in Panama breaks the per-kilo record.
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A new gear piece dominates competition.
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Roasting companies quietly battle for the unofficial title of “hottest roaster.”
Let’s be honest: none of us want to admit we’re chasing titles, but our actions make it obvious as companies.
When was the last time you saw two roasting companies collaborate on a box or co-release a coffee or non-roasting related project together?
Better yet:
When’s the last time you saw a mainstream media article about what's happening in our industry?
If you can’t remember—you’re not alone. You’re in the 99% of the industry.
Are we still creating?
We say we’re about change.
We say we’re about growth.
But are we still creating?
I came across a TikTok from someone who joined the industry just last year. They said they’d already fallen out of love with coffee—they said it felt like a room full of tech bros flexing their Gesha purchases or gear, constantly upping each other completely removed from the original joy of it all: enjoying coffee as it is, together, as humans.
And if newcomers are feeling this... what about the people too intimidated to enter in the first place?
What about the baristas and roastery workers busting their asses every day, only to realize the only way to “level up” is to own their own shop or their own company?
Where’s our end point? What are we even chasing?
As enthusiasts of our industry, we’re advocates. We should all be chasing a deepening and furthering of our industry, not a perpetuation. We’re losing talented individuals by the arm full because rather than creating change and opening opportunities for others as advocates of the industry, we’re more focused on who’s currently supplying Hacienda La Esmerelda as consumers.
And if chasing your next great brew is all that coffee is to you, good for you - there’s room for you in the industry. Yet I’d challenge you:
After that next great brew, then what?
A new hack?
Another rare origin?
How far can we push extraction before we’re just shifting goalposts forever?
There’s real beauty in challenge. In creation. In risk. In letting go of the routine and rediscovering the reasons we started doing this in the first place as creators and consumers alike.
Try a milk drink.
Try a co-ferment.
Try mentoring someone new in the industry.
Try sharing your gesha with someone new instead of your usual swap meet crowd.
Try doing something with another company instead of trying to outshine them.
Honestly, I’m not even sure where to start. But I’ve been taking small steps whenever I can afford to—inviting new creative minds outside of industry into our world. At Promethium it’s been opening up new conversations and dreaming into possibilities for tomorrow that can positively impact all of our industry to levels I never imagined.
Sharing our special world of sensory overload with others instead of staying hidden in the corners of competition Discords and Reddit threads is where real change happens.
Easier said than done.
(And remember, I love this industry. I've dedicated most of my young life to serving it and sacrificing for it. Because of that love, I'm willing to talk about this. I appreciate you being willing to read about it — it's one micro-step toward a better tomorrow for all.)
B
