What Is Fifth Wave Coffee? Cynical Marketing Nonsense

If the concept of fifth wave coffee seems like clickbait to you, I have to agree. And normally I would ignore chatter like this. That said, after doing a bit of research I felt I had no choice but to put in my two cents.

Yes, I’m saying it: the concept of fifth wave coffee is corporate clickbait. Even worse, the so-called fifth wave is basically the same idea as the fourth wave, but with a dark spin that capitalizes off of the innovative spirit of coffee professionals.

In short, I find the concept to be a distraction at best. At worst, it’s an unsettling effort by corporate leaders to push the industry towards profit at all costs, without any regard for the realities of climate change or the wellbeing of coffee producers.

I have a lot more to say on the subject, so buckle up. Here goes: fifth wave coffee explained.

Overview: The Great Waves of Coffee Explained

As it happens, there are three firmly established coffee waves. Plus, many people believe we are currently experiencing the burgeoning fourth wave of coffee. So what does this all mean?

The first coffee wave started in the early 20th century during an era of rapid globalization and industrialization. Prior to the first wave, coffee was often a luxury product. However, first wave coffee companies started roasting coffee on a large scale, generally in the form of instant coffee or pre-ground coffee.

Consequently, affordable coffee cans from companies like Folgers and Maxwell House showed up on supermarket shelves. First wave coffee is known for bringing coffee consumption into the home, though the coffee was almost always very dark roasted and had little traceability.

The second wave began in the 60s and 70s, with coffee companies like Peets and Starbucks emerging with an emphasis on artisanship and sourcing. Coffee shops featured milky and sweet specialty beverages, while coffee beans were more easily traced to their origin.

That said, traceability was still quite vague; it was common to see descriptors like “South America” or “Brazil,” rather than specific regions. What’s more, dark roasts were still the norm.

The third wave of coffee began around the 1990s. It’s marked by an increased emphasis on coffee quality and traceability. Third wave coffee is often roasted very light to bring out the terroir of single origin coffee. There’s also a bigger emphasis on sourcing, with many roasters boasting direct trade or fair trade buying practices.

The fourth wave, which may or may not be evolving now, builds on the values of the third wave with even more emphasis on quality, traceability and ethical buying practices. At the same time, the fourth wave brings coffee back into the home with advanced home coffee machines.

Is Fifth Wave Coffee Even a Thing?

As you can see, we haven’t yet come to an agreement regarding the existence of the fourth wave of coffee. Even so, there’s already talk about fifth wave coffee. Fortunately, you can’t see how dramatically I’m rolling my eyes right now.

I don’t think I’m going out on a limb in saying that the 5th Wave™ (yes, it’s trademarked) is a load of baloney. To be honest, I’m hesitant to even talk about it. In a sense, just giving voice to the concept lends it an air of legitimacy. But in the interest of transparency, I feel obligated to introduce the supposed fifth wave of coffee to you.

More than any other coffee wave, the concept of fifth wave coffee truly is just that – a concept. In fact, it was developed in a collaboration between Allegra Strategies, a business strategy consulting firm, and the World Coffee Portal. What’s more, the 5th Wave concept has a posse of eponymous podcasts and magazines to boost its market image.

For contrast, the other coffee waves didn’t begin around a big table of businessmen. Rather, they evolved naturally from the decisions and priorities of real-world coffee professionals.

What’s more, the characteristics of the supposed fifth wave are suspiciously familiar to the markers of third and fourth wave coffee. I’ll discuss these characteristics in a bit. For now, the important thing to note is that many proposed features of the fifth wave aren’t all that different from the important work that coffee professionals are already doing.

With that context, it seems to me that the trademarked 5th Wave is an attempt to capitalize off of the creative and innovative spirit of the coffee industry. What’s more, the ideals that it pushes are not aligned with the ideologies of many coffee professionals.

Fifth Wave Coffee: Defining Characteristics

I’m pulling these characteristics from the conceptual framework laid out by Allegra Strategies and the World Coffee Portal. Some of these characteristics are familiar, while some push a narrative of the coffee industry that makes me a bit uncomfortable.

Quality

I can certainly get behind a quality-forward coffee wave. In fact, this is one of the few fifth wave coffee characteristics that I don’t take issue with.

But again, I question how this is different from the third and fourth waves. We’ve already seen roasting companies and coffee shops place an emphasis on quality initiatives and data-driven recipe development. How is the supposed fifth wave any different?

As it happens, the conceptual framework I linked above doesn’t offer up any tangible examples or propositions for quality initiatives that are specific to the fifth wave. So again, I can’t say that simply claiming a dedication to quality, excellence and continual improvement is enough to designate this moment in the coffee industry as its own new wave.

Hospitality

Another focus of the fifth wave is a customer-centric approach to hospitality. In particular, supposed fifth wave shops are geared towards Millenial and Gen Z audiences.

In practice, this seems to mean convenient and streamlined customer experiences, with easy-to-navigate services and customer flow routes. What’s more, technological advances like in-app ordering and speedy transaction interfaces intend to appeal to busy take-out customers.

On the other hand, the design of these coffee shops are open and inviting, offering a dual co-working and community-focused space. Incidentally, minimalist and industrial aesthetics seem to be quite common here.

Still, I’m tempted to say that it’s too early to say whether these trends represent a whole new coffee wave, or if they are simply new iterations of the third and fourth waves.

What’s more, the focus in the fifth wave seems to be on coffee shop “vibes,” rather than on brewing specialty coffee.

Boutique Environments

According to the conceptual framework outlining fifth wave coffee, the new wave manifests in coffee shops with “boutique store environments.” To be honest, this smacks of vague marketing jargon to me.

In essence, it seems that a coffee shop with a “boutique” vibe features sophisticated designs, an emphasis on artisanship and an airy and modern layout. I mean, I’m picturing a cafe with big windows, an open floor plan, tons of plants and a clean coffee bar with crisp white countertops and shiny appliances.

The idea also reminds me of shops with an array of accessories for sale, including pour over drippers, business merchandise and other coffee-related goodies.

Okay, I’ll admit all this sounds pretty familiar. But is it third wave, fourth wave or fifth wave coffee? Why does this have to be so confusing?

The fifth wave framework also places an emphasis on replication and refinement, which I find to be a little scary. I understand the refinement bit, but I worry that encouraging replication represents a shift away from independent and unique coffee shops.

Sure, the shop description I mentioned above could be applied to hundreds, if not thousands of cafes around the world. I get that, and I understand the appeal of industry design standards so that coffee drinkers are faced with familiar layouts and services when they enter a new shop.

But I hope that we continue to let some personality shine, rather than getting carried away with the idea of replication and standardized expectations.

Commercial Focus

The concept of fifth wave coffee involves commercially focused businesses. In other words, these are businesses that are driven by economic gains and increased profit margins.

Now, of course all businesses need to make a profit. Otherwise, they don’t have enough cash flow to meet their visions and pay employees fair wages.

With that said, I am skeptical of a new coffee wave that puts profits first. I mean, many of the problems in the coffee industry already result from the high margins on our side of the industry, which make it difficult to shift the profits into the pockets of producers.

In other words, it strikes me as out of touch with the ethical-minded coffee consumers of today to prioritize coffee shop profits so explicitly. Meanwhile, many coffee producers simultaneously struggle to get green prices that meet the cost of production, let alone enable them to pay pickers and other workers fair wages.

Technology and Staffing

The final feature listed on the description of fifth wave coffee involves investing in shop technology and developing strong teams. Again, this seems like vague business language, and strikes me as a bit of an afterthought.

Worst case scenario, the bit about investing in technology could be hinting at investing in tools and fully automatic machines that could eventually make some barista positions obsolete.

For the record, I definitely embrace things like automatic tampers to avoid putting excessive strain on baristas’ elbows and wrists. That said, machines like automatic pour over machines and smart or automatic espresso machines can have the effect of replacing a shift or a whole position.

On the other hand, I’d hope that an emphasis on team development suggests a move towards strengthened job security by investing in career baristas as true coffee professionals.

Fifth Wave Coffee: What’s Missing?

If you’re a profit-minded business owner, all the characteristics of fifth wave coffee that I mentioned above may seem well and good. But if you can’t tell, I’m pretty skeptical of the concept. I think this fifth wave coffee concept (and again, 5th Wave is trademarked) is flawed, and I’ll tell you why.

All in all, it seems that the fifth wave concept is a continuation of the trend of importers, roasters and cafe owners deciding the priorities and future of the coffee industry. However, we really should be looking towards the diverse visions and priorities of coffee farmers, the backbone of the industry, to ensure the sustainability of coffee.

Notably, the fifth wave concept makes no mention of climate change or the future endurance of producers’ jobs and livelihoods. There’s also no discussion about expanding upon the traceability of the third and fourth wave.

For contrast, many coffee pros imagine a future of increased price transparency at all levels of the supply chain, and even abandoning reliance on the C market as a metric for the valuation of green coffee.

What’s more, they envision a shift in the economic structure of the industry to better prioritize the profits of producers.

However, for decades now we have perpetuated a coffee industry that devalues their crop and contributions, all in the name of increasing profits on our side of the industry.

When I think about the future of our industry, including an eventual fifth coffee wave, I hope that we do not make the same mistakes as our predecessors. The 5th Wave™ does not seem to match that vision.

Will There Be a Sixth Wave of Coffee?

The short answer to this question is almost certainly yes. As with any industry, the coffee industry is constantly evolving as new people and ideas come into play.

But remember that we’re barely in the fourth wave of coffee. Actually, many people claim that today’s coffee industry still represents the third wave! So let’s not skip too far ahead, okay?

Final Thoughts

It’s important to remember that this proposed fifth wave coffee isn’t the only concept circulating about the future of the coffee industry. Rather, this is just one possible vision.

What’s more, many folks dismiss even the idea of coffee waves as semantics. I mean, why not just focus on innovation and on solving the problems of today, instead of trying to put a name and idea to a hypothetical future?