Grocers and Restaurants Are Rolling Out New Ready-​to-​Drink Coffee Flavors

BY Rachel Cagle
Featured image for “Grocers and Restaurants Are Rolling Out New Ready-​to-​Drink Coffee Flavors”

"Beyond the buzz created around the early release of Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Latte, there is something big brewing in the U.S. coffee market. American’s consumption habits are shifting across the beverage industry, and consumers are increasingly seeking their next caffeine fix from chilled, on-​the-​go coffee options over energy drinks and carbonated soft drinks."

"Nielsen data shows that the ready-​to-​drink coffee category is hot. In fact, dollar sales within the latest 52 weeks (ending July 27, 2019) netted $3 billion, up 16% versus a year ago. And a steady stream of innovation is fueling this dollar sales growth."

"From cold brew to mushroom-​based coffee, innovation is brewing across the coffee category. To quench America’s thirst for their cup of joe, manufacturers big and small have invested in this space, bringing interesting ingredients and flavors to shelves and highlighting artisanal brewing techniques. According to Nielsen Innovation Measurement data, since August 2018, 1,019 new coffee products have been launched to the U.S. market. That’s 30% more than the same period in 2017. And ready-​to-​drink options are driving much of this growth. In fact, within the past year, 158 new ready-​to-​drink coffee offerings (up 14% year-​over-​year) have hit shelves, with 89 new cold brews and an additional 30 iced coffee varieties brought to market."

"Growth in the coffee category isn’t just coming from ready-​to-​drink options. The emergence of fun flavors like white chocolate, toasted marshmallow and sticky cinnamon bun have certainly sweetened sales in this category. In fact, growth in the U.S. coffee creamer market has actually outpaced that of traditional packaged coffee sales. Over the past four years (ending June 29, 2019), U.S. sales of creams and non-​dairy creamers rose an average of 2.8% each year, compared with packaged coffee sales that rose an average of just 0.8% during the same time."

"Today, new creamer forms are keeping consumers interested — such as nitrogen-​infused creamers that are enabling at-​home coffee drinkers to further elevate their coffee experience and dairy alternative creamers."

"What started as an innovative coffee flavor, pumpkin spice sparked a flavor craze that now defines an entire season. Populating shelves across a multitude of categories, pumpkin spice inspired products have grown to become a half a billion dollar industry. In fact, in the last year alone, pumpkin-​flavored products across grocery brought in $511 million dollars, which is an increase of 4.7% from a year ago."

"So, while the arrival of pumpkin spice season has people talking, all eyes should be on the impressive growth happening within the U.S. coffee market. For brands and retailers, inspiration for the next big trend across categories could be in their morning cup."

Both restaurants and grocery stores can appeal to Coffee Drinkers by promoting their vast array of coffee offerings and flavors. Coffee cravings can be inspired by visual ads, and last year, Coffee Drinkers took action after seeing TV commercials and ads in both print and digital newspapers and magazines. Coffee Drinkers are also heavily influenced by deals. Their favorite types of emails to receive from businesses include coupons/​discount codes and limited-​time offers/​sales, with nearly half taking action after receiving email ads last year. Additionally, last month, about half turned to the internet in search of coupons and discount codes, and last year, and around two thirds took action after seeing ads on daily deals sites such as Groupon.

AudienceSCAN data is available for your applications and dashboards through the SalesFuel API. In addition, AdMall contains industry profiles on coffee/​tea shops and supermarkets/​grocery stores, as well as lead lists at the local level. Media companies, sales reps and agencies can access this data with a subscription to AdMall from SalesFuel.


Share: