New Mexico’s coffee industry affected by COVID-19 pandemic

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The coffee industry in New Mexico has taken a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just like restaurants, coffee shops in the state cannot provide indoor seating for customers.

“I think it's been a lot more difficult on the coffee industry because we support and we supply these restaurants and hotels, even breweries with coffee so a lot of our wholesale business is taken up with that and that has been really devastating to our local coffee scene," said Madison Rumbaugh, president of the New Mexico Coffee Association.

Rumbaugh said coffee shops are seeing a decline in customers because more people are staying in and working from home.

"They go to grocery stores and they're shopping for coffee there," she said. "But it's more likely to be a national brand at that point and not something local. So it's really, really been hard across the board for all of local roasters and our local shops”

Some cafés, like Grinding Gears Coffee in Albuquerque, have gone out of business.

However, Rumbaugh said, for the most part, coffee shops and roasters are hanging in there thanks to support from their customers.

"We are still here and we're out there and we are a big part of this community and we want to continue to be for years to come and it would really help if you just think of us before you think of something national," she said.

Source: KOB4