|
|
|
You can get e-magazine links on WhatsApp. Click here
|
|
|
|
|
|
Appealing to Millennials looking for best of both worlds
|
|
Thursday, 26 February, 2015, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
|
|
Jodie Minotto
|
|
fiogf49gjkf0d • Coffee tea drinks are a hybrid concept that offers consumers the best of both worlds. Such an offer may lure younger demographics, who are turning away from coffee for healthier beverages
• Coffee tea drinks are an established beverage in Asia where it is known as Yuan Yang. It has also developed in South Africa. Coffee is also a common ingredient in slimming teas
• In the US, coffee tea drinks are emerging in the natural and specialty tea channel. Both RTD tea, and loose teas are appearing
The hybrid craze hits hot beverages
Tea and coffee, as beverages, have traditionally been mutually exclusive; one chooses either one or the other. So, the emerging trend of combining tea and coffee as a single beverage, a coffee tea drink, is a most curious one. The trend is rooted in the popularity of tea and coffee mixing in some Asian countries. Its development has no doubt been accelerated by the current craze for the hybrid, which has seen a whole range of previously unconnected food and drink concepts combined with varying degrees of success. Perhaps the best known of the hybrid concepts is the ‘cronut,’ a cross between a croissant and a donut. An overnight hit when first developed in New York in 2013, it very quickly spread to cities across the globe.
Hybrids, when they work, create consumer attention because they provide consumers with something new to try. This propensity for experimentation is highest amongst younger consumers, Millennials, who generally show a greater interest in trying new flavours. While it may sound a little crazy, coffee tea drinks truly give the consumer the best of both worlds. Coffee bolsters the caffeine content of a tea drink, whilst tea provides health boosting antioxidants. Certainly, there has been an increase in launches of energy teas in several markets over the past year, which shows that there are consumers looking for something more from their tea.
Furthermore, American consumers, 18-34 year olds particularly, appear to be less reliant on coffee as a beverage to get through the day. They are also more likely to be cutting back their coffee consumption for health reasons. As such, a coffee tea drink that contains only moderate amounts of caffeine, offering the health benefits of tea, is likely to have particular appeal to this demographic.
(See Figure 1)
Coffee tea drinks have their roots in Asian Yuan Yang
Coffee tea drinks have existed in the Asia-Pacific region for some years, where it is known as Yuan Yang. Tea drinking is the dominant form of hot beverage consumption in the region where it has been a traditional beverage for generations. In more recent times, coffee has been introduced and is growing in popularity. A strong and bitter tasting beverage, the practice of diluting it with familiar-tasting tea has been adopted by some as a means of making it more palatable. So common is the practice that even global brands such as Lipton have launched coffee tea drinks. Coffee jelly is another means by which coffee flavours are added to tea beverages. It is usually added to RTD milk tea lattés as it provides texture and mouth-feel. This style of drink, like bubble-tea, is very popular in the region.
Tea Coffee Drinks
Dai Pai Dong Star Grade 3-in-1
Instant Yuan Yang Drink (China)
A 3-in- 1 tea and coffee drink.
Georgia X Red UK-Style Coffee
(Japan)
This RTD latte features a blend of coffee and Darjeeling tea.
Lipton Milk Tea Black Kiss
(Singapore)
This instant tea mix has an extra touch of coffee taste that is said to offer an amazing and unexpected milk tea experience.
Shi Chen Foods 3:15PM Coffee Tea
Mix (Indonesia)
This 3-in-1 tea bag can be used to make a hot or iced beverage.
Schlürp Darjeeling Ceylon & Indian
Milk Tea & Coffee Jelly (Philippines)
A blend of premium loose Darjeeling, Ceylon and Indian tea leaves with coffee jelly and low fat milk. It is high in antioxidants, barely sweetened, and free from preservatives, artificial colours and flavours.
Hybrid coffee tea drinks also have a small following in South Africa. Rooibos or redbush tea is the favoured type of tea in this country. It is caffeine-free and claims to have five times the antioxidant content of black tea. Inspired by the popularity of coffee, rooibos is sometimes ground and prepared as a ‘red espresso.’ It is also combined with coffee, as a hybrid coffee tea drink. Given that rooibos is caffeine-free, the addition of coffee provides it with an energy kick it otherwise lacks.
South African tea and coffee drinks
Mokate Latte Cha Black
A coffee drink powder with black tea extract.
Camién Organic Rooibos Espresso & Cappuccino MixUses 100% best quality rooibos, directly from the farm, ground to give a perfect espresso every time. The ‘coffee’ provides antioxidant and essential mineral and contains no kilojoule, caffeine, preservatives, additives or colourings. It is UTZ, Eco Cert and USDA organic certified, and has been approved as a part of Heart and Stroke Foundation eating plan.
Coffee and tea are also appearing in combination in slimming and fat-burning beverages. Green coffee extract contains chlorogenic acid, which has a reputation in weight loss circles for having ‘thermogenic’ or fat-burning properties. It often appears in slimming teas which are usually a cocktail of green coffee extract, green tea, and other metabolism boosting herbal ingredients.
Slimming teas which contain coffee
Léa Nature Jardin Bio’ Vanilla Flavoured Organic Fat Burning Herbal Tea (France)
Contains green tea leaves, mate leaves, guarana seeds and green coffee beans. It acts as a diuretic
and detoxifies.
Pure Health Naturally Nature’s
Green & Lean Tea (US)
A blend of green tea leaves, known across Asia for their wealth of antioxidants, green coffee beans containing chlorogenic acids, and warming spices like cinnamon, anise and a hint of ginger, plus a
touch of stevia for sweetness to create a robust flavour. This herbal dietary supplement helps to support healthy weight and natural energy.
Coffee tea drinks are emerging in the natural and specialty tea channels
Several prominent tea and RTD brands are now picking up on coffee tea drinks and the US in particular has seen some interesting launches.
Nestlé’s Sweet Leaf RTD Tea brand launched two varieties of an RTD coffee tea in early 2014. Referred to as the ‘peanut butter and jam of beverages,’ their coffee tea blend drinks come in original and vanilla flavoured. They do not include milk, and so offer a more refreshing alternative to an RTD coffee. In their launch statement the company says the RTD coffee market has become indulgent, which presented the opportunity to launch something more refreshing. It is claimed they are merely reflecting consumer behaviour as baristas have noted that some customers routinely order a shot of espresso be added to their tea.
Sweet Leaf Coffee – Tea blend is positioned as a mid-strength caffeinated beverage for the natural channel, the brand’s heartland.
Coffee tea blends are also routinely offered by specialty tea retailers who are constantly on the lookout for a range of complex, edgy and seasonal flavour combinations. Canadian and US specialty tea retailer David’s Tea offers two loose tea and coffee blends – Coffee Pu-erh and Jumpy Monkey which combines roasted yerba mate, carob, coffee beans, almonds, white chocolate, oat straw, cocoa nibs, red clover, cloves. While Teavana features a Java Mate Tea which combines black Assam tea, roasted yerba mate, chocolate, cappuccino flavour and vanilla.
Waning interest in coffee amongst younger demographics, a thirst for new flavours and eastern influences are key drivers of the coffee tea drink trend. While coffee tea drinks currently represent a tiny fraction of all tea category innovation, it is such a novel concept it is attracting attention and very likely to spread.
The analyst’s view
• Coffee tea drinks will initially appeal to younger consumers, especially Millennials. However, as a mid-strength caffeinated beverage bolstered with healthy antioxidants, it may find broader appeal amongst the health conscious.
• Coffee tea drinks provide an opportunity for tea brands to better target the morning occasion when higher caffeine content is sought after.
• New to Western markets, the hybrid coffee tea drink is an attention-grabbing innovation and it is something we will doubtlessly be seeing more of.
(The author is global food and drink analyst with Mintel)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|