Instantly Trending
Themes Driving Instant Coffee’s Growth are Aligned with Specialty Coffee and it's Building Big Momentum.
Brian Paul – Ground Up Coffee & Tea (4 Minute Read)
Instant coffee is a problem solver. The category has an established resume that includes helping Brazil avoid the spoilage of a massive crop surplus and caffeinating troops during wartime. Instant provides the scalability, consistency, and shelf stability that food & beverage companies require. It’s also widely regarded as the best coffee option environmentally – naturally aligned with an industry committed to sustainability. As the coffee world shifts toward the fourth wave – Specialty at Scale, instant coffee is once again garnering attention. And it’s demonstrating mass-appeal. The themes below are responsible for the building momentum.
Focus on Quality
The holy grail for instant coffee is to deliver a cup that rivals the best cups of ground coffee. It's a noble pursuit that requires intense focus on outcome rather than solely on profit margin. Brands looking to approximate their signature roasts are doing exactly that – through a journey that begins using high quality or specialty grade beans, continues through gentler, more technologically advanced processing methods, and finishes inside environmentally considerate packaging. The attention to each step within this lifecycle is transforming the category. You can experience the end results online or at the retail cafes of various specialty roasters domestically. Everyone seems to be extending their line to include premium or specialty grade instant options.
Sustainability
Virtually all coffee brands are looking for 1) certifications that align with their own and their consumer's values - like Fair Trade or Rainforest Alliance and 2) traceability throughout the supply chain. While many of these programs focus upon the people involved in the process, instant coffee also aligns with 3) the environmentally conscious consumer. Conduct a quick search and you'll discover a vast amount of research concluding with instant coffee being better for the environment relative to other options. Dig slightly deeper and you'll see major investments being made into more environmentally friendly ways of delivering coffee - specifically single serve formats. Brands are offering organic, specialty grade, freeze-dried instant coffee with any number of the eco-friendly/people focused certifications – delivered in recyclable/compostable or even soluble packaging. Those brands are winning this theme.
Instant Cold Brew
For those that aren’t as familiar with instant coffee, the idea of instant cold brew may seem antithetical. However, using colder temperatures throughout the entire production process yields a familiar smooth, low acid, well-balanced cup – without the time commitment by the consumer or the cafe. As a stand-alone beverage instant cold brew marries the convenience of instant with the versatility and popularity of cold coffee. It offers brands a differentiated option for their portfolio that easily aligns with consumer requirements. For cafes and beverage systems instant cold brew can be used to fortify liquid cold brew options - using truly cold brewed coffee solids to increase the concentration without compromising the sensory profile.
Functional
Functional beverages are non-alcoholic drinks that include an ingredient which provides a specific health benefit. They’ve become immensely popular, as consumers look to address their personalized health needs – on their terms. We’re seeing functionals intersect with coffee from two lenses:
- Consumer desire to add a functional ingredient to their coffee without changing their routine
- Consumer desire to add coffee to their functional beverage to optimize their routine.
Functionals have long offered an intriguing category for beverage brands to extend their lines, especially in the RTD market. The pandemic amplified this trend. Note that with highly informed consumers, companies having long-term success are doing so by taking a wholistic approach - respectful of consumers existing behaviors, mindful about dosage requirements, and well educated about and discerning of the ingredients they choose.
Plant-based Milks
Instant coffee has a long history of being the base for 3:1 mixtures (coffee, non-dairy creamer, and sugar). Many brands gravitate toward these mixtures for their espresso drinks. As such, instant coffee is a natural partner for the increasing number of plant-based milk options consumers are demanding. These non-dairy milk brands are moving quickly to deliver their own 3:1 beverage to complement their line-up.
Blends v. Single Origins
Single origins remain popular. They’re the preferred choice for consumers looking for a unique experience from every cup. However, for brands looking to deliver a consistent experience while limiting exposure to a given origin's ground differentials, blends are a reliable solution. Given where coffee prices have been over the last 18 months, many brands have taken advantage of the fungibility blends provide, opting to diversify or de-risk their product lines using them.
Conclusion
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the themes driving instant coffee’s resurgence are aligned with the themes across the broader coffee industry. Some of the themes represent opportunities. Others are more aspirational – presenting challenges coffee looks to overcome. The challenges facing the industry tie back to people, the planet, and the need to meet demand created by specialty coffee. At the intersection of it all is where instant coffee offers a solution. It’s a format known for its scalability, appreciated for its convenience, and intriguing due to its relative sustainability. Instant is a well-suited partner for specialty coffee and it certainly has specialty’s attention. As James Hoffmann suggested in his 2018 YouTube video The Best Instant Coffee “Perhaps the future… it might be in instant coffee."