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.
Coffee-buying has increasingly gone gourmet. I think most people who brew coffee at home have a grinder. But ground coffee starts losing its quality pretty soon after it’s exposed to air, so grinding fresh only matters if you brew it right after grinding. For people who only make coffee for guests or only drink it for the caffeine, there’s pre-ground options. Also, grocery stores don’t want to sacrifice that valuable shelf real estate for the large grinder…