It might seem like coffee brands are rushing to enter canned cold brew, but for “beanless” varieties, RTDs seem to be falling out of fashion.
San Francisco-based food tech company Compound Foods, the makers of Minus Coffee, have abandoned their initial innovation – a 2-SKU line of 7.5 oz. single-serve cans – for an instant alternative.
- The company has unveiled a new powdered oat milk latte, now available on pre-order for $35 per 9.7 oz. bag to subscribers; it will officially launch DTC on January 2.
- The instant beanless coffee touts 50 mg caffeine, 100 mg L-theanine and 6 grams of pea protein per serving.
The shift away from RTDs also brought a reformulation and rebrand with a “design that encourages women to be bold and ambitious but also to look and strive for the balance they desire in their lives,” said Compound Foods founder and CEO Maricel Saenz. “As a female-led team, we are excited to bring to the market a product that prioritizes women’s health, is designed for women by women and brings this critical conversation to the table.”
While “instant coffee is having a moment” and coffee drinkers are “more comfortable with the format,” she said the new product also adds to Minus Coffee’s sustainability mission.
- The powdered format uses less water and materials to produce, creating a “convenient and sustainable” solution for consumers that also addresses the climate impact of coffee cultivation, Saenz said.
- The pivot follows a similar trajectory of aligning alt-coffee with wellness-driven consumers’ newfound affinity for caffeine reduction.
The format was also central to early alt-coffee pioneer MUD/WTR, which helped spawn an explosion of instant coffee alternatives ever since as innovators work to replicate the taste and effect of coffee using a range of base ingredients – from matcha to functional mushrooms and inputs like mesquite or figs. Mesquite, as we discussed yesterday over on Nosh, is working its way into a few alt-categories.
Another early beanless coffee adopter, Atomo Coffee, has also pivoted away from cans, moving into bagged, bean-free espresso blends last October. That shift out of RTD seems to be paying off, including a “multi-million dollar” investment from Suntory, the opening of a new roastery and a partnership with café chain Bluestone Lane all in the past year.
That’s not to say there isn’t an opportunity for canned coffee alternatives. Oakland-based Voyage Foods is betting on being a supplier of bean-free RTD coffees by offering its product as a private-label or foodservice option for brand partners.