Califia Farms is making the jump into shelf-stable beverages with the launch of a four-SKU line of nitrogen-infused cold brew lattes made with oat milk, a move that will facilitate expansion into e-commerce and convenience channels.
Brian Lovejoy, general manager of coffee at Califia, told BevNET that the company’s focus thus far on exclusively refrigerated cold chain products has been a “roadblock” for potential growth opportunities, starting with e-commerce. The dairy-free lattes — available in XX Espresso, Mocha, Salted Caramel and Unsweetened Black & White varieties — are now available on Amazon and Califia’s website in 12-packs of 7 oz slim cans.
In retail, the Nitro Draft Latte with Oatmilk line will move mainly through c-stores as a grab-and-go product with a suggested retail price of $2.99 per can. The broader roll out will run through the end of this year, and Califia will be showcasing the products at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) trade show in Atlanta next week.
Califia already has an existing Nitro Draft Latte product made with almond milk, packed in 10.5 oz bottles and distributed in natural retailers, but Lovejoy said the new oatmilk line was designed to capture a different type of consumer. Three of the four SKUs — Mocha, Salted Caramel and XX Espresso — are sweetened, containing 12, 8 and 9 grams of cane sugar per can, respectively. The Unsweetened Black & White variety is sugar-free and has the lowest calorie count (50 per can), followed by XX Espresso (70), Salted Caramel (80) and Mocha (120). The complete line is made with 100% Direct Trade Arabica beans and is packaged in a 12 oz slim can with nitro widget.
“The design we had in mind was really to bring the [Starbucks] Frappuccino drinker in and give them an option that is just as tasty but with much, much less sugar,” he said. “We’re not going after the high-end specialty coffees — we’re going more for that Frappuccino drinker.”
Over the last several years, oats have emerged as the star ingredient in an exploding market for plant-based milks; Califia itself added unsweetened and barista-edition oatmilk varieties to its portfolio in January. Much of that success has been based on oatmilk’s natural synergy with coffee, but not just as a fresh product. Over the last year, brands like La Colombe, Chameleon Cold-Brew and Bluestone Lane have introduced shelf-stable oatmilk-based lattes in single-serve packages, joining rising startups like RISE Brewing Co. and Pop & Bottle.