Cup of gold

The first thing most of us go for in the mornings is our cup of tea or coffee and as retailers you rely on consumers’ appetite for high quality barista coffees and flavoured teas to keep them coming through the doors throughout the day. Fionnuala Carolan looks at what’s new in the hot beverage market

Brand Central

22 September 2022

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The work-from-home revolution has contributed to a sales boost for hot beverages. According to a Kantar report from April 2022, sales of hot beverages jumped 23% compared with pre-pandemic, when consumers spent a lot more time in the office. While Ireland has always traditionally been a nation of tea drinkers, there’s no denying that our coffee culture is growing rapidly, especially in the country’s larger towns and cities.

Younger consumers in particular are engaging more with fresh coffee and organic coffee products. Indeed in January 2022, Euromonitor reported that coffee is expected to record steady single-digit growth in retail volume and value terms over the forecast period. Sales are projected to continue being driven by fresh coffee, fresh ground coffee pods and organic coffee with the country’s coffee culture expected to see further development.

Tea will always remain a staple drink in the Irish diet but according to Mintel, tea saw a real resurgence during the pandemic. “With tea there is a continued focus on ethical, natural, functional and sugar-free claims,” the analyst stated. “Being a comforting and healthy drink, tea has become a go-to drink in the pandemic. With more people working from home, tea occasions have moved rapidly back towards the home.” In addition to this, tea brands are also focusing on biodegradable packaging to address environmental concerns.

We look at the newest innovations in the tea and coffee market below.

Infinite creations, infinite pleasure

Discover the new L’OR Barista coffee machine, that delivers barista-quality coffee to enjoy at home. Double your coffee pleasure by brewing two single espressos at once, or a double espresso in one cup with the new L’OR XXL Pods exclusive to this new L’OR Barista double spouted machine.

This innovative machine made in partnership with coffee machine pioneers Philips, is also compatible with L’OR espresso single shot capsules, Nespresso Original and most Nespresso Original compatible capsules, providing maximum flexibility and choice.

Coffee lovers can now enjoy single or double ristrettos, espressos, lungos, as well as all other favourite coffee recipes. The L’OR Barista coffee machine includes a one litre water tank, dual capsule recognition technology, 19 bar pressure, and automatic capsule disposal.

The machine presents a compact design, comes in a variety of colours, and is the first Nespresso compatible capsule machine to be available in retail supermarkets.

With a RRP of €89.99, it’s available now in Tesco and Dunnes Stores nationwide, and online at lorespresso.com.

Time for a Cuppa

Cuppa is the exclusive coffee brand from S&W Wholesale

S&W Wholesale’s exclusive coffee brand Cuppa is starting to cause quite a stir in the coffee-to-go market within the convenience sector. With its rich blend of Central American, Indonesian and African origin beans the coffee offers a nutty, smooth taste finished off with a sweet profile on the palate. The coffee is high grown and has a fine balance of wet, dry and honey processes to really bring out the taste. It’s certainly proving popular amongst the Irish consumer with over 40 Cuppa sites now opened around the country. Situated within S&W’s convenience store brand, Nearby; there has been a number of new installs of the coffee machine recently in Nearby Tallaght, Kevin St, Clonee, Inchicore and Portobello with over 20 more earmarked for opening before year end.

The Cuppa brand is also going through an evolution phase with investment from S&W Wholesale in bringing to life its loyalty scheme, social media and how Cuppa can feature at local events. Brand marketing lead, Daniel Comiskey said: “We are moving Cuppa Coffee to a whole new level. The growth of the brand alongside our Nearby stores has been phenomenal with retailer feedback and customer taste sampling being very positive. We want to evolve the brand and reach new customers who want the perfect Cuppa when on the go or meeting up with friends.”

Never settle for ordinary!

Findlater & Co is one of Ireland’s leading hot beverage companies offering world class coffee solutions. With links back to the 19th century Dublin merchant trader Alex Findlater, the company is proud to continue the tradition of being a trustworthy and experienced provider of premium goods.

Findlater & Co is home to premium craft coffees; Warbler & Wren, Salana & Eshe, the global leading coffee brand Lavazza, and Robert Roberts a brand steeped in a rich Irish Heritage. Passionate about all things coffee, the company owned brands are blended and locally roasted in Ireland at its roastery based on the Broomhill road in Dublin. In addition, the company supports its customers with comprehensive training and support programmes, cutting edge equipment and service solutions, alongside exciting innovative marketing activations.

Master roaster Garath Scully having spent over 20 years in the coffee industry possesses an enviable wealth of knowledge and craftsmanship that guarantees the best in cup every time. The perfect cup of coffee has the perfect balance of brightness, acidity, and body. Most coffee is grown around the Equator belt, but coffee changes from region to region. Depending on how deep the valley is, how much rain it gets, the soil, run and wind, coffee has vastly different flavour notes. Indonesian coffee, for example, has a very earthy, volcanic feel, yet if you move towards Honduras, the coffee has very floral or buttery notes. Scully’s expertise and passion have been captured in each and every one of ours blends. As a coffee innovator and coffee lover, Scully is constantly seeking new blends. Having spent many years in the coffee trade he has found hundreds of unique coffee flavours that always piqued his senses. Discover more about its Craft Collective blends, bespoke offerings, and how it could add more value and opportunity into your coffee offering.

Guided by a discerning eye, at Findlater & Co, they say… never settle for ordinary!

For more information, email info@findlaterandco.com,visit www.findlaterandco.com or telephone 01-4047300.

Smooth and cool iced drinks

Iced beverages are to be available year round from Seattle’s Best

Seattle’s Best Coffee continues to build on its brand proposition of ‘uncommonly smooth’ coffee by launching its super smooth coffee beverages in a new self-serve iced beverage concept.

The new innovative concept allows self-serve consumers to pour their own refreshing iced latte, cappuccino and mocha in store. The eye-catching marketing materials take a bold blue move from the well-known Seattle’s Best red to grab consumers attention in a busy store environment.

This product extension aims to bring a new demographic into the coffee-to-go category, while offering current customers a new and refreshing product. It’s not just for the summer though, with younger consumers enjoying iced coffee beverages all year round.

What makes specialty coffee different?

Everyone has their eyes on the coffee industry. It seems to be the place to achieve success and there are endless brands in the market. Coffee is forecasted to register the fastest value growth between 2020 and 2025. Sales in home coffee machines are still on the rise, and as such, those consumers are looking for a premium coffee experience (Source: Mintel, Future of Coffee 2021).

Enter ‘specialty coffee’ –a specific sub-section of the overall coffee market. In fact, it is the only coffee that has scored 80 out of 100 or more by a certified coffee taster (SCAA) or a licensed Q Grader (CQI), so it is the top 20% of the coffee harvest. Everything about specialty coffee is quality driven – the plants tend to be grown at higher elevations, beans are hand harvested to ensure only the optimum cherries are picked and they are free of faults and taints when brewed.

Velo Coffee Roasters specialises in 100% arabica specialty coffee. The team roasts it in small batches taking the time to develop the flavours and keep all the sweetness in the bean. Sourcing only specialty coffee ensures consistency, quality, and delicious coffee in every cup.

Tea-obsessed nation: Volume sales grew during pandemic for Barrys Tea

Barry’s Tea Gold Blend maintains its position as Ireland’s much-loved tea

Demand for black tea has remained steady throughout the lockdown and has since been boosted by the reopening of the foodservice industry. Barry’s Tea Gold Blend maintains its position as Ireland’s much-loved tea. Black tea sales saw a retail value growth of 1% in 2021 and current volume growth of 3%*.

This is especially evident with the rise in volume sales of Decaf tea in the Irish market. Last year, Barry’s Tea launched a larger Decaf box with 160 teabags in November 2021 based on the demand for decaffeinated tea over the past two years. To date, the Decaf blend has had an increase of over 50% in volume sales compared to 2019 figures (pre-Covid)**.

This winter, consumers will be able to enjoy their much-loved Decaf blend on the go

Consumers want to enjoy a great tasting cup of tea but without the caffeine as they are making alternative consumption and health-related lifestyles choices. Premiumisation of the tea category is also apparent with the rise in sales of the Master Blend tea; a rich tasting blend, carefully selected and crafted by Barry’s Tea’s master blender for true tea connoisseurs.

In winter 2022, consumers will be able to enjoy their much-loved Decaf blend on the go. The brand is launching a 200s Decaf string, tag and envelope offering for retail and foodservice outlets serving hot beverages on the go.

Launched in July, Focus from Barry’s Tea is an invigorating infusion

To correspond with the demand in healthier lifestyle choices by younger consumers and with people continuously working from home, Barry’s Tea also launched a new infusion called Focus in July 2022. The blend contains natural botanicals of apple, hibiscus, spearmint and ginseng with the added benefit of Vitamin B6 which contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, as well as being caffeine-free.

Not only can consumers enjoy a great tasting range of teas, but they can also relax knowing that the brand is making huge progress in sustainability. Barry’s Tea sources the highest quality of Rainforest Alliance Certified black teas and its packaging is 100% recyclable with vegetable ink used on boxes. In the last year, the company has successfully moved to fully biodegradable teabags for industrial composting, to be disposed of in the brown food waste bin.

Barry’s Tea is continuously developing and evolving with consumer trends whilst remaining consistent to the true craft of tea sourcing, buying, and blending which dates to 1901.

*(Source: Euromonitor, Tea in Ireland Jan 2022)

**(Source – Barry’s Tea, Sept 2022)

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