Consumer Trends: Growing Interest in Cold 'Ready to Drink' Coffee

PRINCETON, N.J. (PRNewswire) — Fresh-brewed iced coffee is the most popular cold coffee choice, but a growing share of all iced/cold coffee drinkers are drinking Ready To Drink canned or bottled cold coffee.  According to Multi-sponsor Surveys' newly released 2014 U.S. Coffee Study, frequent consumption of RTD canned/bottled cold coffee drinks (including espresso and cappuccino)  increased over the past two years, particularly among Millennials and Hispanics.   The popularity of canned coffee observed by Multi-sponsor Surveys International in China and Japan may be moving eastward.

Among the key findings from the survey conducted among 1,500 U.S. adult coffee drinkers:

• Three out of four (75 percent) coffee drinkers now drink both hot and cold coffee beverages.
• Nearly 7 in 10 (69 percent) cold coffee drinkers have tried RTD canned/bottled coffee.
• Weekly consumption of RTD canned/bottled coffee is up from 15 percent in 2012 to 20 percent in 2014 among all cold coffee drinkers, but increased by the widest margins among Hispanics (up from 17 percent to 36 percent) and Millennials (up from 22 percent to 31 percent). 
• Older coffee drinkers and whites are much less likely to drink RTD cold coffee.

According to Karen Bundy, V.P. of Food & Beverage Marketing at Multi-sponsor Surveys, "It is probably not a coincidence that canned or bottled ready-to-drink cold coffee is catching on at a time when fewer are drinking carbonated soft drinks, including the caffeinated colas."

Source data was compiled from:  2014 U.S. Study of Coffee — conducted by Multi-sponsor Surveys in July 2014 among a nationally representative sample of 1,500 adult coffee drinkers.  The 2011 Study of the International Market for Hot Coffee & Tea was conducted in Japan, China, Russia and the U.K. by sister company Multi-sponsor Surveys International.

Multi-sponsor Surveys Inc. is a diversified, syndicated market research company.  Established in 1989, MSI conducts over 100 major, primary research studies annually in the areas of nutrition, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and health care, personal care, pet care and consumer goods and services. See more information at www.multisponsor.com