Iced coffee heats up

The arrival of warmer weather means it’s time to start thinking seriously about upgrading your iced coffee program. In fact, if you aren’t taking full advantage of the specialty iced coffee trend, you’re missing out on an important source of customer satisfaction — and sales and profits.

According to 2015 data from Technomic conducted for Keurig Green Mountain, although iced coffee has already established itself as a year-round favorite, there is still plenty of room for increased sales, as evidenced by a 9% forecasted growth rate through 2018.¹

Thirty-eight percent of consumers are drinking more scratch-made cold, blended, and iced coffee at foodservice now than they were two years ago, including 41% of women and 51% of Gen Z.²

In response to this increase in consumer demand, operators have increased iced coffee offerings. In fact, iced coffee menu mentions have increased 8% at limited-service restaurants in the past year, and 4% at full-service restaurants. Operators in many noncommercial segments, including B&I and colleges, are following suit.²

Because so many consumers are looking for variety in beverage options, a lot of the action is in flavored iced coffee.

Providing flavor variety is a must when it comes to iced coffee. The possibilities include familiar flavors such as caramel, vanilla, mocha, cinnamon, hazelnut, and almond, as well as exciting newer flavors such as coconut or blueberry.

Additionally, seasonal and special flavor varieties are helping to change the iced coffee landscape. Over the past 5 years, in fact, seasonal/LTO flavors have gained momentum, taking interest away from common core flavors that started the success of flavored coffee.³ Today, 34% of the all-important millennial customer base is interested in a seasonal or limited time flavor offer, compared with 9% five years ago.3

Customization is another key to building iced coffee sales. Millennials, in particular, want to customize their iced coffee, just as they do hot coffee. This means offering various sizes, a selection of sweeteners and lighteners (including alternative milks such as nut and soy milks), add-ons such as whipped cream, and flavored varieties or flavoring additions.

Here are some additional ideas for capturing more of consumers’ coffee dollars.

¹ 2015 Technomic, Inc.
² 2016 Menu Monitor, Technomic, Inc.
³ Flavor & Fragrance Specialties (FFS).
⁴ 2016 Beverage Consumer Trend Report, Technomic Inc