Iced, ready-to-drink coffee accounts for one in five global coffee launches

According to latest research from Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), cold coffee has drinkers buzzing, as around one in five (19%) global new coffee launches was iced, ready-to-drink (RTD) in 2017, up from 16% in 2015.

While Europe has been slower to follow the iced coffee boom, Mintel highlights strong potential among younger drinkers. Two-thirds (66%) of UK 18–24-year-old coffee drinkers think chilled coffee is a good alternative to sugary drinks, compared to a quarter (26%) of drinkers aged 45+. This echoes what is happening in America where younger drinkers, who are less ingrained in the ritual of drinking hot coffee, have driven RTD coffee growth. Some 68% of those aged 18 to 34 in the United States currently consume single-serve RTD coffee compared to 43% of all adults.

Globally, Japan leads in RTD coffee innovation, accounting for 18% of all iced RTD coffee launches in 2017. The U.S. follows, accounting for 13% of these launches in 2017, up from 10% in 2016.

Chilled coffee is thriving in the U.S., growing at least 10% annually between 2013–2017. In fact, more than half (56%) of new RTD coffee launches in the U.S. were cold brew in 2017, up from 38% the year prior. Meanwhile, RTD coffee is also building momentum in China; Mintel forecasts annual growth of around 20% in the next five years as RTD steals more share from instant coffee.

But despite the rapid rate of growth of RTD elsewhere in the world, Europeans remain resistant to the lure of iced coffee. While Spanish consumers are most likely to have tried iced/chilled coffee in Europe, only 10% have purchased it either from a store or online. Meanwhile, in “coffee-purist” countries like France and Italy, purchase of iced/chilled coffee among all adults is just 3% and 4%, respectively.

Press release