As people seek to enjoy the aroma and flavor of coffee while controlling their caffeine intake, the decaf market is expected to expand. Research firm Grand View Research forecasts that the global market will grow from approximately $3.2 billion in 2025 to around $5.2 billion in 2033, with an average annual growth rate of 6.7% from 2026 onward. Europe accounts for about 40% of that market.

In a 2021 survey by EIT Food, 58% of 18- to 24-year-olds in five European countries said that the pandemic had increased their awareness of healthy eating. The Netherlands-based trade support organization CBI has also pointed to a sharp increase in the number of people in the European market who are reducing their caffeine intake. In addition to brand and preferred flavor, factors such as when people drink coffee and whether it fits into their lifestyle are increasingly influencing their choices.

D stands for, a specialty roastery in Vienna specializing in decaf, is seeking to meet this demand with the quality of specialty coffee. Its founder, Miriam Bubahta, had long wondered why, when restaurants recommend coffee after dinner, they so rarely suggest decaf.

Later, she experienced pregnancy and breastfeeding herself, and found herself drinking decaf more often. However, she was not satisfied with the taste of the products available on the market. This led her to establish a roastery specializing in decaf.

D stands for aims to offer a choice of different flavors among decaf coffees, allowing customers to experience differences based on origin and bean variety. Its selection includes coffees with fruity aromas and flavors. As the desire to reduce caffeine is combined with curiosity about taste, the way people choose products is also changing.

Miriam's background is in marketing and innovation support. At first, she planned to use a friend's equipment, but eventually purchased a roaster herself. She repeatedly held cuppings with people she knew in the coffee industry, listening to their opinions as she refined the quality. She says that her experience in a different industry helped her envision a business focused exclusively on decaf.

The reason she roasts the coffee herself is to allow enough trial and error to get as close as possible to the flavors she is seeking. According to Miriam, decaf beans require more delicate handling during roasting than regular beans. For that reason, she chose an electric roaster, which she believed would allow her to control the conditions precisely and reproduce the results more consistently. She began by testing small batches on a small machine. Compared with using a large machine and large quantities of beans, this also kept the cost of experimentation down. The process of exploring quality was closely tied to the decision to start the business on a small scale.

The pale pink that characterizes the brand was also chosen after trying various pastel colors in search of a softness that suited the image of decaf. However, the customer profile imagined from that color did not necessarily match the actual buyers.

Based on her own experience, she expected to attract more female customers, but in reality, more of her customers were men. Many work in IT or are serious coffee enthusiasts. Some also buy the coffee for a pregnant partner. While this is only one brand's experience, it shows that demand for decaf cannot necessarily be understood solely in terms of gender or particular life circumstances.

At the same time, the challenges of a growing market and those of running a small roastery are different. Purchasing green coffee requires capital to be paid in advance. The business must decide how much to buy at a stage when sales volumes are still difficult to predict. Even when subsidies are available for equipment purchases, there can be a time lag between making the payment and receiving the subsidy. Miriam says that when she introduced a new roaster, she was left with very little cash on hand. The decision to start the business was made as a family, and while the business was being developed, her husband covered a larger share of household expenses.

Even so, as orders increased and the previous roaster reached its production limit, the business expanded to a machine capable of handling three kilograms at a time. According to Miriam, annual roasting volume increased from about two tons in the first year to about four tons, and six tons is now within sight.

Coffee plays a role in bringing people together and allowing conversations to continue after a meal. Not everyone who enjoys that time needs the same amount of caffeine. If people can choose a decaf that suits their preferences, they can take care of their own lifestyle while remaining at the same table.

The social role of coffee that Vienna, with its many historic cafés, has cultivated may continue in this way, evolving while carrying on its traditions.