Keurig Dr Pepper diving deeper into cold-brew category
BURLINGTON, MASS. — Plans for Keurig Dr Pepper in 2024 include a bigger presence in the cold-brew category, new coffee blends with assistance from actor Kevin Costner and a coconut-flavored Dr Pepper.
Keurig, with over $4 billion in sales in 2023, leads the company’s coffee portfolio, which also features Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and McCafe, both over $500,000 in sales last year.
“Nearly three out of four cups of coffee are consumed at home,” said Timothy P. Cofer, chief operating officer, in an investors’ update call March 19. “Yet this represents only a fraction of total dollars spent on coffee, highlighting our opportunity to drive premiumization and quality of experience at home.
“At-home single-serve volume has grown 4% over the last five years. Single serve now represents almost 30% of the at-home market and has been a steady share gainer for years, and yet, there is still significant opportunity to continue to grow that share, including through converting more households from drip to single serve and by bringing away-from-home occasions back into the home.”
Cofer said since the company sees white space in cold-brew coffee, the new K-Brew + Chill brewer will launch this fall.
“The innovation slate starts with our largest push ever into cold coffee,” he said. “Today, about 10% of total coffee occasions are cold, yet approximately 70% of away-from-home coffee shop beverage consumption is either cold or iced. That means we have a significant opportunity to develop this incremental at-home occasion, offering cold coffee shop quality for a fraction of the price.”
The Green Mountain brand will partner with Costner.
“It includes some specific blends that we developed in partnership with Mr. Costner and additional media activation around his epic ‘Horizon’ films that will come out this summer,” Cofer said.
Coconut-flavored Dr Pepper will launch in time for summer, he said.
“I know coconut could be a little polarizing, but if you’re a coconut fan, you are going to love our limited-edition Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut,” he said.
Burlington-based Keurig Dr Pepper is targeting “demand spaces” for the Canada Dry and The Original Donut Shop brands.
“In the case of Canada Dry, we targeted an evening unwind demand space, emphasizing the benefit of relaxation with a soothing communication line: sip into your comfort zone,” Cofer said. “We complemented the work with delicious innovation of Canada Dry Fruit Splash, and we’re pleased with our results to date.”
Keurig Dr Pepper targeted a casual get-together demand space for The Original Donut Shop.
“We translated this into collaborations with Snickers and Twix, which contributed to strong growth, particularly among the critical Gen-Zennial coffee drinkers,” Cofer said.
Other plans for 2024 include introducing new flavors for C4 Energy and scaling up Electrolit sports hydration in the United States.