Aluminium cold brew cans: offering your customers more variety
Aluminium cold brew cans are among the most sustainable options for packaging your line of cold brew coffee. Aluminium is infinitely recyclable, robust, lightweight, and widely compatible with most curbside recycling programs.
Combined with modern laser-engraved labelling, aluminium cold brew cans are also highly customisable, which helps modern coffee businesses offer shoppers the variety they crave. In the past, producers were limited by high MOQs and costs when building out their portfolio, but they are no longer.
As beverage technology in the coffee industry improves at a fast rate, packaging technology is keeping up with development, supporting the vast array of options coffee roasters and RTD companies need to bring to market in order to compete.
Chameleon Cold Brew, an Austin-based cold coffee specialist, recently introduced three new aluminium cold brew cans. Its approach is an instructive example of the importance of providing your customers with variety and how aluminium cans make it possible. Read on to learn more.
Who do aluminium cold brew cans appeal to?
The market is packed with high-quality aluminium cold brew cans. RTD coffee has fast become the preferred format for younger generations’ coffee consumption: 60% of Gen Z drink RTD coffee, compared to less than half who drink traditional ground coffee. Further, young people prefer cold coffee.
This is for several reasons. Younger consumers have a different concept of convenience compared to their older peers. For the Baby Boomer and Gen X generations, convenient coffee meant freeze-dried instant coffee at home or a big-name branded chain on the way to work.
Such coffee solutions well matched their lifestyles and purchasing drivers. Instant coffee offers a low-cost caffeine fix made quickly, and high-street branded coffee shops provide a consistent, more indulgent beverage that fits nicely into a more traditional 9-5 daily routine.
Younger lifestyles are ruled by different criteria. As coffee quality has democratised in the past decade, spurred on by industry-wide innovation in technology, equipment, and sourcing, finding a specialty-grade cup has become easier than ever before.
RTD coffee, for example, is highly varied and consistently features single-origin, 100% Arabica beans, plant-based milk alternatives, functional nootropics and adaptogens. This kind of customisation used to be the exclusive remit of independent third-wave cafés or high-street multinational giants. No, it’s available on supermarket shelves or e-commerce platforms.
Young people are more likely to work remotely or in a hybrid model, are more familiar with online shopping and e-retailing, and value active lifestyles more. Aluminium cold brew cans fit in far more seamlessly than a daily visit to a coffee shop, and they’re served cold.
How do aluminium cold brew cans help businesses be more innovative?
Gen-Z and Millenials are the least brand-loyal generations: digital shopping is the chief culprit of the change. E-commerce platforms and social media maintain a constant supply of exciting new options, so young people are more likely to shop around and be value-for-money attentive.
In years past, brand reputation in coffee was synonymous with quality – think Illy or Lavazza for coffee at home, Starbucks for out-of-home, and Blue Bottle and Stumptown for specialty. The brand still counts, but without convenience, variation, and continuous innovation, shoppers will look elsewhere (and probably find what they want).
In 2024, Chameleon Cold Brew debuted four new ultra-convenient RTD aluminium cold brew cans to expand on its already progressive portfolio. The move was indicative of the competitive, convenient coffee category, where even a well-established brand recognised for its quality must continue to develop its product variety to stay relevant.
“We recognised the growing demand for variety and ease of convenience in the RTD coffee segment without compromising on flavour,” said Andy Fathollahi, CEO of SYSTM Foods, Cahemleon’s parent.
“Our new canned cold brew line provides our loyal customers with another delicious, no-prep option to enjoy their daily coffee ritual, on the go, at any time.”
Andy’s remarks illustrate how comprehensively Chameleon understands the winning formula for modern coffee companies. Loyalty comes through innovation, through offering customers exciting new flavour combinations and packaging formats to keep them engaged.
“The upcoming line complements Chameleon’s existing portfolio of award-winning products,” the press release continues. “This includes a variety of organic ready-to-drink 10 oz cold brews and 32 oz multi-serve concentrate cold brews, each handcrafted to match every move.
Chameleon’s move to aluminium cold brew cans marked a departure from the glass bottles for which they are famous. Aluminium was chosen for extra portability and convenient recycling, enhancing the ability of the new beverages to offer the ultimate on-the-go coffee fix.
Among the new products include a nitro black cold brew, a double espresso beverage, and a cold brew-based flat white, signifying that Chameleon is investing beyond flavour variation and into new beverage preparation like nitrogen infusion. Cold brew is highly customisable and quickly becoming the preferred base for high-quality RTD coffee products.
Chameleon will retail its new line on its e-commerce platform as well as Amazon, making their aluminium cold brew cans as widely available as possible. For younger people, this is exactly where they expect to see it.
At Cold Brew Pak, our customisable aluminium cold brew cans are part of a wide variety of sustainable cold brew packaging solutions, including bag-in-box for multi-serve needs, flexible cold brew pouches for greater packing efficiency, and BPA-free plastic bottles.
To source your own line of specialty coffee cold brew packaging, visit our website or get in touch with us directly.
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Aluminium cold brew cans
