Specifically at grocery stores.

This weekend I was grocery shopping, and it occurred to me whilst attempting to find the one or two whole bean offerings amid the sea of pre-ground coffee and k-cups that I haven’t seen coffee grinders in a grocery store in years. It feels like, growing up through the 90s and early aughts, most stores would have at least a few options to grind fresh, or at least the Bakers near my home did. However, at some point, they were seemingly removed everywhere.

Of course, my intuition tells me that it benefits stores to not have such specialized machinery in place so as to allow maximum flexibility with store layout, but I’m curious if anyone has an inside scoop.

  • Swordgeek@lemmy.ca
    5·
    6 hours ago

    I can think of a lot of reasons for it.

    • The machines take up a lot of space, and create a lot of mess.
    • Pods have taken over a huge chunk of the pre-ground market.
    • More people than ever have grinders at home.
    • Packaging of pre-ground coffee is better than it used to be - better sealing containers, and fresher coffee to start with.
    • The huge variety of coffee brands means that what you would get out isn’t what you put in.

    There just isn’t much of a need for people who want to buy whole beans but grind them before getting home anymore. People will either buy whole beans and grind at home, buy ground coffee in a well-sealed container, or buy pods of some form.