Rethinking coffee

Is coffee about to become as much a cold drink as a hot drink ?

Two recent acquisitions suggest the future of iced coffee could be about to heat up.

Iced coffee has been gaining ground, especially in the United States. It sells at a premium price and has outpaced many other drinks. But its global sales are still relatively niche.

Then along comes the new beverage shake up group of JAB and Mondelez to merge Keurig with Dr Pepper Snapple for $18.7 billion.

One of the reasons put forward by JAB was: “An increasing percentage of coffee is being drunk by millennials – as cold brew or ready-to-drink… For us to be a broad player in the coffee industry, we have to have access to distribution capabilities to tackle these segments.”

This was just after Vietnam’s Masan had spent $75 million on a similar move to buy the remaining 31.5% of Vinacafe. Masan already markets a coffee energy drink called Wake-up 247.

Personally, I’ve been more impressed in the past by the advance of iced teas, but iced coffee is beginning to achieve new appeal, most notably with the smoother taste of cold brewing.

It is no coincidence that Zenith has just issued a new report on ready to drink Coffee Innovation. For further details, go to www.zenithglobal.com