There are two things that seemingly have not wavered throughout this unusual year: Our love of coffee and surging sales of ready-to-drink (RTD) spiked beverages.
With coffee culture now deeply ingrained in American society and the growing popularity of RTDs and hard seltzers in recent years, the combination of the two was always inevitable. But few could have predicted just how successful hard coffee would prove to be.
According to data from insights firm Nielsen CGA, which was shared in a recent Beverage Industry article, hard coffee sales totaled $18.9 million in the 52 week period ending July 18. That figure represents a staggering 11,000 percent growth compared to the same period last year.
“A product like hard coffee gives consumers something new and different, while remaining familiar and comforting with its pronounced flavors,” Ann Vanevenhoven, marketing director of Twelve5 Beverage Co. (the company behind REBEL Hard Coffee) told Beverage Industry.
The rise of RTD hard coffee has seen a number of producers, small and large, vie for market share in recent years. In 2019, two notable companies entered the spiked cold brew space: Pabst Blue Ribbon (Pabst Hard Coffee) and La Colombe (Hard Cold Brew Coffee).
If you haven’t already tried hard coffee, maybe it’s time to find out what all the buzz is about.
