Coffee Consumption during the COVID Pandemic in a Portuguese Sample: An Online Exploratory Study

Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages worldwide and is part of the Portuguese lifestyles. This study aims to describe coffee consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, the change in consumption, the relation between work and familiar pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic and coffee consumption, and the reasons for this consumption pattern.

This is a cross-sectional study conducted by an online questionnaire (n = 463) between March and June 2020. During the data collection phase, information about coffee consumption and socio-demographic characteristics were gathered.

All respondents were and are coffee consumers. The coffee average intake before the COVID-19 pandemic was 2.40 ± 0.84 cups of coffee per day, and the average consumption during the COVID-19 confinement was 2.68 ± 0.88 cups. Consumption increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a correlation between the consumption changes and the familiar or work pressure was not found. The general reasons for the increase in the coffee consumption were "social/cultural" (27%), "the search for energy "boost"" (22.9%), "to feel awake" (22.7%), "to deal with stress" (22.7%) and "the taste" (21.8%).

The results suggest the ever-increasing popularity of coffee consumption. Respondents also highlighted that some situations make them more prone to consume coffee consumption, such as when they face stress and the need to control tiredness. The COVID pandemic depleted a change in behaviors.