A new line of chilled, canned Costa Coffee will launch in Great Britain later this month. This will be the first major product introduction since Coca-Cola acquired Costa Coffee from Whitbread Co for £3.9bn, which we reported earlier this year. for Costa Coffee last year
We correctly predicted that the acquisition by Coke would lead to Costa in a can, and we are glad to learn that Costa Coffee Ready-to-Drink (RTD) will be available in three popular Costa Coffee flavours – Classic Latte, Caramel Latte and Black Americano – made with the same Rainforest Alliance Certified Mocha Italia Signature Blend coffee beans used in all Costa Coffees and containing a double shot of espresso.
The new brand delivers an authentic coffee taste experience with 30% less sugar than most RTD coffees in Great Britain.
Jennifer Mann, president of global ventures at Coca-Cola revealed: “Our teams at Coca-Cola and Costa Coffee have been working around the clock to make our shared vision of Costa Coffee ready-to-drink coffee a reality.”
The launch is the newest example of Coca-Cola’s progress towards becoming a ‘total beverage company‘. Coke appears to be driven by a strategy to offer more drinks more people want, in more categories, package options and calorie counts. Each 100% recyclable 250ml Costa Coffee can contains between 15-108 calories, compared to Starbucks’s Coffee 200ml Double Shot Espresso which contains 142 calories and 17g of sugar per can.
Coffee is a large and growing category, but Coca-Cola has not had a strong, global coffee platform or brand recognition, until now.
“This demonstrates the power of our partnership. It combines the marketing expertise, global scale and distribution credentials of the Coca-Cola system with Costa Coffee’s expertise and capabilities in coffee”, added Jennifer Mann.
Coca-Cola and Costa Coffee collaborated to develop and commercialise the new RTD coffee range which will launch in Poland and China within six months. However, there are currently no apparent plans to introduce Costa RTD in the United States.
Dominic Paul, CEO of Costa Coffee, added, “Through this collaboration, we’ve been able to work together to offer consumers the great taste of Costa Coffee in a can for the first time. We are committed to working together to give consumers more opportunities to enjoy the Costa Coffee they know and love, whenever they want, wherever they are. We’re really proud to have bought this product to market at such speed while still ensuring the range has proper coffee at its heart.”
The launch will be supported by an integrated marketing campaign including outdoor and digital advertising, PR and consumer product sampling. The campaign will include ‘a nod’ to Costa Coffee’s coffee shop heritage.
Another great way to enjoy Costa! Proper coffee in a can is here; available as Latte, Caramel Latte and Americano ☕☕☕#CostaCoffee #CostaReadyToDrink #ProperCoffee pic.twitter.com/sYa3A4uNt3
— Costa Coffee (@CostaCoffee) July 4, 2019
FACT: Costa’s 2,600+ coffee shops in the UK has been voted the favourite coffee shop brand 9 years in a row!
