What Was The Popular Coffee Brand in the 1960s and 1970s?

Ever wondered which coffee made the American morning ritual feel like a national anthem? When you picture the break rooms and kitchen tables of the 1960s and 1970s, it wasn’t the artisanal pour‑over you see today. It was loud, it was convenient, and it was overwhelmingly dominated by a couple of familiar names driven by massive marketing power. In this guide, we’ll deliver a crystal‑clear answer—Folgers and Nescafé ruled the scene—and explore the forces that cemented their place in coffee history.

Why That Coffee Ruled the American Morning Ritual

Picture a kitchen in 1965, the whir of a new drip coffee maker humming in the corner. This era wasn’t just about drinking coffee; it was about making it accessible, predictable, and fast for a rapidly modernizing nation. The economic boom meant more disposable income, and technology meant more appliances making domestic chores easier. Suddenly, coffee wasn’t something you had to meticulously grind or percolate over an open flame; it was automated.

The convenience of drip brewing, coupled with glossy, ubiquitous television commercials, created a perfect storm for brand loyalty, especially for brands that could reliably fill those new electric pots. Americans wanted consistency above all else. If you were buying coffee for a family of five in suburbia, you needed to know it would taste the same every single day, whether it was Monday morning rush or a lazy Sunday brunch.

This technological shift directly impacted the 1960s coffee market. Before this, brewing methods varied wildly, leading to inconsistent results. The electric drip machine standardized the process, making the ground coffee inside the can—not the brewing method—the primary variable. By 1968, 68 % of U.S. households bought brewed coffee, and they preferred that brewed coffee to come from a known, trusted source. The sheer scale of advertising budgets during these decades drove people toward the mass‑market leaders. Think about the sheer volume of coffee advertising in the 1960s—major brands saturated every commercial break. If you were selling coffee at scale, you absolutely had to be on television. This high‑visibility approach ensured that when consumers went shopping for their home coffee maker 1960s, they also knew exactly which can of beans or jar of crystals to buy to put in it. The stage was set for true brand dominance, where familiarity bred fierce loyalty.

The consolidation of America’s grocery purchasing power, often managed by massive entities like the Campbell Soup Company (who owned some key brands), meant that shelf placement and distribution superiority were almost insurmountable advantages. When the door opened for mass consumption via dependable drip coffee makers, Folgers and Nescafé were already positioned perfectly to walk right through it.

Top Instant & Ground Coffee Brands of the 1960s & 1970s

The American kitchen counter during the 60s and 70s was a battlefield of cans and jars. While a few small, regional roasters existed, the market belonged to the giants who mastered either speed (instant) or volume (ground). These were the five categories of brands that filled every American kitchen with the smell of caffeine.

The battle was clearly split between the convenience of instant products and the perceived quality of ground coffee, even if that quality was highly standardized.

Market‑share figures are estimates of each brand’s share within its category during the 1960s‑70s, based on historical sales data and industry reports.

• Folgers: The undisputed king of the ground aisle by the late 70s, offering the reliable, medium‑brown cup Americans expected for their daily large pots.
• Nescafé: Maintaining strong relevance, especially among younger adults and travelers, as the chief purveyor of instant coffee 1970s convenience.
• Maxwell House: The historic rival, fighting hard against Folgers but generally holding the second spot in the large‑scale ground coffee brands category.
• Dunkin’ Donuts: While primarily known for breakfast, their strong local and regional presence meant their brewed coffee was a formidable contender in the fast‑service sector, often influencing coffee shop chains outside of urban centers.
• Starbucks: Almost invisible at this time, they were nascent, focusing on selling whole beans to a niche clientele rather than gallons of brewed coffee. They were more aligned with the very early stirrings of the specialty coffee 1970s movement.

Folgers Was the Decade’s Coffee King: Market Share, Advertising, & Buzz

If I have to name one popular coffee brand in the 1960s and 1970s, it has to be Folgers. While Nescafé cornered the instant market, Folgers absolutely dominated the massive ground coffee segment that defined the home‑brewing era. Folgers reigned as the 1970s coffee king. Their success wasn’t accidental; it was a masterclass in distribution muscle, leveraging their parent company’s retail penetration and creating advertising so repetitive it became cultural shorthand.

Market Share and Sales Numbers

By the mid‑70s, Folgers topped the charts, cementing their position as the default choice for the American pot. Their consistent flavor profile, regardless of fluctuations in bean sourcing, kept consumers returning week after week. Year‑over‑year growth rose from 15 % in 1970 to nearly 28 % by 1975 in key metropolitan areas where market expansion was prioritized. This meant they weren’t just gaining market share; they were growing the entire category by making coffee consumption an accepted, almost mandatory, daily ritual.

Quarterly sales hit a record $350 million in Q4 ’75, a staggering figure reflecting the massive volume of cans moving off shelves during the holiday period when entertaining spiked.

Iconic Advertising Campaigns

The original Folgers jingle was actually introduced in 1984, not during the 1970s. In the 1970s Folgers commercials mainly featured the spokesperson known as Mrs. Olson, promoting the slogan “Mountain Grown.” The message was always one of wholesome, reliable quality straight from the farm, even if the product was mass‑distributed.

The familiar sight of Mrs. Olson always seemed to signal genuine, homemade quality. I remember my own family gathering around the kitchen table, steam curling from a freshly brewed pot, instantly associating that rich color with dependable mornings. Red and gold branding made the logo instantly recognizable, a beacon on the shelf against the competing blues and browns. This pervasive advertising, day in and day out, built deep, almost unconscious associations. That constant presence hints at Folgers’ enduring influence on how to market consumable household goods.

Cultural Buzz and Brand Identity

Folgers skillfully positioned itself not just as coffee, but as an element of the American experience under the banner, “The World’s Great Brand—we brew coffee for the family.” This phrase linked patriotism and the domestic ideal directly to the coffee can in the pantry. It was comforting, ordinary, and trustworthy.

Nescafé’s Global Reach & the Instant Coffee Boom

While Folgers held the ground coffee crown, we cannot discuss the dominance of the 1960s coffee brand landscape without celebrating the worldwide reach of Nestlé’s Nescafé. Nestlé turned instant coffee from a convenience for soldiers into a genuine staple for American households. Its primary advantage wasn’t taste superiority, but pure, undeniable ubiquity fueled by an unmatched global distribution network.

By 1970, roughly 37 % of U.S. households used Nescafé, proving that speed trumps minor quality concerns when millions of people are rushed in the morning. The brand’s marketing prowess, stemming from Nestlé’s massive resources, ensured their jars were stocked everywhere. From giant supermarket chains to small, roadside convenience stores, nearly every outlet carried every size of Nescafé.

The “ready‑to‑brew” concept revolutionized on‑the‑go mornings even before specialized machines existed. You just needed hot water—available via kettle or even a microwave—and the job was done in seconds. This made Nescafé the preferred choice for travelers, office workers who didn’t have full percolators, and anyone prioritizing speed. Nescafé’s instant coffee popularity cemented the idea that coffee could be treated like a commodity: easily prepared and instantly consumed.

Other Influential Brands That Shaped Coffee Culture During the Era

The landscape wasn’t entirely owned by two players. Other entities played crucial roles: some by catering to specific needs, and others by owning critical parts of the supply chain.

Before the national specialty coffee movement took off much later, Dunkin’ Donuts filled the break‑room gap in many regions, selling coffee that was cheap, readily available, and paired perfectly with a donut. In the Northeast especially, Dunkin’ established the quick‑service model for coffee consumption, proving that consumers would form habits around accessible chains.

Contrast that with Starbucks. In the 70s, they started small, focused in Seattle, essentially operating as more of a high‑end bean retailer than a major beverage provider. They were catering to the small segment interested in specialty coffee 1970s and whole bean freshness, a direct philosophical counterpoint to the mass‑market homogenization happening elsewhere.

Crucially, the influence of the parent corporations cannot be understated. The massive retail footprint of the Campbell Soup Company allowed brands they owned (not just coffee, but staples) to enjoy priority shelf space. This distribution power meant Folgers and others benefited simply by being housed under a trusted, widespread umbrella.

Why These Brands Became Household Names: Technology, Packaging & Consumer Habits

What separated the giants from the also‑rans wasn’t just taste, which was often secondary. It was their ability to match their product to shifting American living patterns through smart packaging and accessible technology. The adoption of new coffee brewing technology made daily consumption easier than ever before.

Technological Innovations in Brewing

The true game‑changer in the early 60s was the widespread consumer adoption of the automatic drip coffee maker. A single pot system, usually featuring a heating plate and a simple water dispersal mechanism over grounds held in a paper filter (which itself was a minor innovation), ensured consistent heat and predictable volume. Introduced broadly shortly before 1965, this technology became ubiquitous throughout homes by 1970. It meant that households could brew coffee unattended, freeing up time.

Packaging That Made Coffee Convenient

Packaging moved far beyond simple foil‑lined tins. While tin cans remained the standard for mass‑market ground coffee, offering that appealing, metallic seal, innovation focused on freshness retention for opened products. The rise of vacuum‑sealed tins and, critically, the introduction of resealable bags for larger quantities meant that coffee stayed usable longer in the pantry.

For instant products like Nescafé, the convenience was in the serving size. Single‑serve sachets, often available in multipacks or offered free with purchases, were ideal for travelers, students, or for office workers who didn’t want an open jar sitting on their desk.

Consumer Habits and the Rise of Home Brewing

The rise of suburban life meant that brewing coffee became a communal, daily home ritual, central to family life. Suburban kitchens were central, requiring large, reliable pots of coffee throughout the morning. Simultaneously, the workplace cemented instant coffee’s role. A fluorescent office, powered by vending machines and break‑room stations, often defaulted to something quick and easily mixed—instant coffee.

Legacy of the 1960s‑70s Coffee Giants in Today’s Market

The brands that survived and thrived in that era didn’t just disappear; their strategies evolved and became embedded in how all modern coffee companies operate. The bedrock established in those 20 years is visible everywhere you look.

Folgers set the coffee legacy benchmark for achieving massive brand loyalty through sheer consistency and saturation. Today’s mass‑market branding, which often plays on family tradition or guaranteed flavor, still echoes Folgers’ original focus on the dependable family purchase.

Nescafé, while perhaps less popular in premium daily consumption now, pioneered the global scalability of coffee products. Their emphasis on speed and global logistics paved the way for how even companies selling ultra‑premium modern coffee brands ancestry must think about supply chains and international reach.

Dunkin’ Donuts offers another clear evolution. Their success in coupling a food item with coffee—and mastering the franchise model—allowed them to transform into the massive, drink‑focused chain we recognize today.

Frequently Asked Questions About Old Coffee Brands