Nestle & Keurig Want Consumers To Make Iced Coffee At Home Instead Of Paying A Barista – CoffeeTalk

Iced coffee is becoming increasingly popular among consumers, as it is a more affordable alternative to traditional coffee drinks. Brands like Nestlé and Keurig are focusing on iced coffees to attract customers from trendy coffee shops back to their kitchens. This year, Keurig Dr Pepper launched a machine dedicated to iced coffee, advertising a drink “as cold as the coffee shops” in three minutes or less for $199. The company flashed new technology, promising flavorful cups that wouldn’t be watered down by melted ice by quick chilling the brewed coffee.

Nestle, which owns Nespresso and Nescafé, is developing “complete solutions” for customers who want to make cold coffees in their homes. In May, Nescafé launched an espresso concentrate in Australia and China, designed to pour over ice to make a latte or Americano. The caffeine conglomerate also developed its first Starbucks blend dedicated to ice coffee, new creation modes on some Nespresso machines for iced drinks, a canned cold coffee, and a Coffee mate cold foam.

However, there is science behind why iced coffee is so much better at coffee shops, and current single-serve espresso machine innovations don’t meet that quality despite their marketing. Christopher Hendon, associate professor of chemistry at the University of Oregon, said that the fundamental problem with how these capsule machines brew coffee is that there’s actually less coffee in those pods than are used to brew cold brew and other drinks in cafes. At-home iced coffees are roughly half the strength of what cafes produce.

The iced coffee mania comes at a time when coffee production is at risk of surging prices as factors like climate change could slash the global supply. The International Coffee Organization (ICO) reported that the ICO Composite Indicator Price, a key reference price for the global coffee industry, hit a 13-year high, averaging 226.83 cents, or around $2.27 per pound.

Investing in iced coffee could be worthwhile for companies as American consumers still feel the pinch in their wallets, more and more choosing to recreate fancy iced concoctions at home. Nestlé said that one out of every three coffee cups consumed globally is going to be cold, and many of those drinkers are Gen Z, a gold mine for marketers.

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