rom traditional cold brew coffee
to espresso-based ready-to-drink
(RTD) beverages, the demand for
refreshing and chilly coffee is sky-
rocketing. Mintel estimated that from
2014 to 2015, retail sales of cold brew
coffee grew 115 percent and accord-
ing to Bloomberg the U.S. ready-to-
drink coffee market has been growing
by double digits since 2011.
Even in cooler months, cold cof-
fee is contributing to booming sales
for some companies. In fact, in the
fourth quarter of 2015, Starbucks
reported a 20 percent increase in iced
drink sales nationally and KonaRed
recently reported that its ready-to-
drink (RTD) cold brew coffee
sales have increased by tri-
ple digits each month since
February. Coffee and bever-
age manufacturers, as well
as brewer manufacturers, are
responding to this trend with a
variety of ways to give consum-
ers the cold beverages they crave.
Deliver the chill to the workplace
There are several ways operators
bring cold coffee to the workplace.
One option is cold brew. In 2015, 25
percent of respondents to the State
of the Coffee Service Industry report
indicated that they offer a cold brew
choice. Some operators opt to bring
cold brew coffee — made by steeping
ground coffee beans in room tempera-
ture water for an extended period of
time — to the workplace in kegs, while
others offer the product in bottles,
cans and cartons. Cold brew coffee
naturally tastes sweeter and can be
higher in caffeine than traditional
RTD coffees. It does, however, require
constant cool temperatures between
storage and delivery, which may be a
challenge for some operators.
While cold brew needs to be kept
refrigerated, many traditional RTD
coffees do not, which makes them
another great alternative for opera-
tors to offer. Traditional RTD coffee,
F
Don't Forget
The Ice
By Adrienne Zimmer, Managing Editor
The popularity of cold coffee, in many forms, is heating up.
Ready-to-drink iced coffee options are
often shelf stable and consumed over ice.
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14 Automatic Merchandiser VendingMarketWatch.com June/July 2016
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