Canned coffee: fast becoming mainstream
For younger shoppers, canned coffee is not a novelty. Instead, choosing RTD coffee for a morning caffeine fix or an afternoon pick-me-up is fast becoming a mainstream choice.
High-street coffee shops used to hold the monopoly on convenient, high-quality drinks. Of course, people have been making coffee at home for generations, but the quality of a home-brewed beverage in comparison to a store-bought latte or flat-white was chalk and cheese.
The industry-wide improvement in coffee-making equipment, beverage technology, packaging materials, and consumer education has led to younger people confidently seeking quality coffee beverages elsewhere: convenience stores, petrol station forecourts, and e-commerce platforms, to name a few.
Canned coffee is no longer considered cheap or low-quality. Businesses of all shapes and sizes, from Nespresso to Minor Figures, Illy Caffè to BIGFACE, bringing canned coffee products to market confirms just how much potential there is in the RTD space.
An Italian manual espresso machine and expertly-trained barista used to be the gold standard. To Gen Z and Gen Alpha, however, an elegantly designed aluminium can filled with specialty-grade beans and plant-based milk is just as good, if not better.
In late 2024, Nespresso launched its first-ever canned coffee beverage, touting Colombian single-origin beans wrapped in a sleek purple sleeve. The world’s most famous coffee brand is stepping into the RTD space. Read on to learn why this is significant.
How is Nespresso taking on the canned coffee segment?
Nespresso transformed at-home coffee brewing with the launch of its capsule machine back in 1986, the C-100. Almost 40 years later, Nespresso remains one of the most prominent players in the international coffee capsule market.
Despite its dominance of the capsule space, in September 2024, Nespresso announced the launch of its first RTD coffee for the US market in an effort to further its activity in convenient coffee.
“As on-the-go coffee demand continues to grow in the US, we saw the opportunity to reimagine how Nespresso can elevate coffee moments for today’s consumer,” said Alfonso Gonzalez Loeschen, Nespresso’s North American chief.
“This RTD sits at the intersection of functionality and sustainability as a byproduct of our commitment to regenerative agriculture efforts to protect the future of coffee.”
By introducing an RTD product into its already highly diverse coffee offering, Nespresso is further stratifying its offering. Coffee capsules are already a highly convenient coffee solution, but they require a Nespresso-compatible machine to prepare and are generally served warm.
The new canned coffee option ticks boxes the capsules can’t: it can be consumed on the go, chilled and drank cold, and is pre-customised. By sweetening the beverage with natural coffee blossom honey, Nespresso is tapping into the demand for diet-friendly, naturally enhanced products instead of artificial, additive-laden indulgent drinks.
To succeed, coffee companies can’t put any old coffee into a can and compete. Convenience must be matched with quality, and quality is determined by flavour, provenance, and specialty ingredients. Nespresso’s new RTD is a case in point: single-origin coffee sourced from Colombia, sweetened with organic, natural honey, and touting fruity and cacao aromas.
Why has Nespresso opted for cans and not alternative packaging materials?
Nespresso had several RTD packaging options for its latest move. The company has opted for aluminium cans – canned coffee is among the most popular formats – but BPA-free plastic bottles and flexible cold brew pouches are equally sustainable and available.
Aluminium cans are highly customisable, which allows coffee brands to maintain key elements of brand aesthetic and create products that are instantly recognisable on busy supermarket shelves.
Moreover, Nespresso has held firm on its commitment to aluminium coffee capsules, claiming their increased sustainability credentials and recyclability. Two of the main factors in consumer recycling rates are familiarity with packaging types and access to curbside recycling programs. Being able to recycle RTD cans in the same way as espresso capsules will
In Nespresso’s promotional imagery, the new canned coffee sits alongside an espresso capsule of the exact coffee origin, helping customers recognise the connection between the two products and confirm that the quality they have come to love and appreciate in Nespresso’s well-established products is now being replicated in the canned coffee format.
This is Nespresso’s first foray into the RTD coffee segment, and it has opted for individual 225 ml (7.6 fl oz) portion sizes. As awareness and demand grow, expect to see a further stratification of the offering with new flavours as well as other sizes.
For multi-serve requirements, bag-in-box packaging is an excellent choice. With volumes up to 20 litres, sizeable brandable packaging real-estate, and 100% compostability, bag-in-box packaging would fit well with the Nespresso aesthetic and sustainability beliefs.
Flexible cold brew pouches represent a more sustainable option for single-serve units, as the packaging is compostable and lighter than aluminium, cutting transport emissions while offering the same amount of customizability.
At Cold Brew Pak, we offer a wide range of highly customisable and sustainable coffee packaging, including canned coffee, flexible cold brew pouches, bag-in-box packaging, and BPA-free plastic bottles.
To source your own line of packaging for your specialty coffee products, visit our website or get in touch with us directly.
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