If sales data are any indication, more consumers are saying goodbye to coffee filters, tea bags and the long wait to brew. According to data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI, dollar sales within the shelf-stable ready-to-drink (RTD) tea and coffee category shot up 9.5% during the 52 weeks ending Aug. 8, 2021, to $7,647.5 million. Unit sales increased 3.0% to 3,044.1 million.
Pure Leaf, a product of the Pepsi Lipton Tea Partnership, Purchase N.Y., launched Pure Leaf Herbal Iced Teas, a line of premium iced teas that are caffeine-free, have no artificial sweeteners and are brewed with real hibiscus flowers.
Energy beverages had a rough year in 2012. The trouble started that April, when Illinois Senator Richard Durbin petitioned FDA to "take regulatory action and to address the rising health concerns around energy drinks."
Coffeehouses are satisfying the Millennial generation’s need for new taste experiences. Look to your neighborhood barista for ideas and then translate them into RTD beverages.
Coffee and tea are the original functional beverages. They’re packed with antioxidants and other functional ingredients that serve to stimulate, relax or purify. Dairies formulate their own nondairy beverages and combine tea and coffee into dairy-based products.
Dollar and unit sales for refrigerated coffee and tea are rising. Research indicates year-round demand for cold, ready-to-drink coffee beverages, especially by Millennials.
Americans drink tea and coffee because they enjoy the beverages and because they expect health benefits. Our roundtable discussion gives dairy processors ideas for creating foods with coffee and tea ingredients.
Millions of Americans can’t be wrong. And what is it that we are not wrong about? Our choice in beverages, that’s what. According to “Coffee and Tea Foodservice Trends in the US” (a report from Packaged Facts), fully 183 million Americans enjoy their regular infusions of java and 173.4 million take tea.