The new developments in coffee consumption in Slovakia with emphasis on small coffee roasters

Anotace: The spatial and social aspects of food chains have recently become of an increasing interest for geographers. One of the most important agricultural commodities and most popular beverages is coffee which has become a subject of growing body geographical research. Over the past decades, coffee consumption has undergone significant transformation often divided into so-called three waves of coffee consumption. Their onset, however, has not been uniform across the globe and the post-socialist countries have experienced recent developments with substantial delay. The most recent third wave has been initiated by the actors in the last stages of the coffee chain - small-scale coffee roasters as a response to growing demand for quality. The third wave coffee roasters are a relatively new phenomenon on Slovak market which has not been studied yet and our paper aims to fill this gap. The main purpose of our paper has been to map them, explain their development in the context of the three waves and investigate their spatial distribution. The development and geographical distribution of third wave coffee roasters are closely related to the economic condition and reflect the socioeconomic disparities within the country. As our data has shown, the third wave roasters concentrate disproportionally in prosperous urban areas. The relationship between the number of roasters and the distance from the nearest regional centre is well described by exponential function. The surge of third wave coffee is associated with changing sentiments in consumer culture – backlash against mass consumerism and growing interest in alternative consumption which is emblematic to affluent urban consumers. Central and eastern Europe is experiencing growing demand for coffee and specialty market has not yet reached its ceiling which makes third wave coffee a perspective segment. Although the pandemic has caused short-term downturn, nonetheless, it likely will not affect the positive outlook in long-term.