Chobani debuts with chilly brew espresso drinks that transcend yogurt

Chobani’s four new coffee drinks

Chobani

In 2019, Chobani started focusing on oat milk and coffee creams to build its reputation beyond its typical Greek yogurt.

It starts in 2021 with another bold category entry: coffee.

Starting in January, Chobani customers will be able to purchase ready-to-drink coffee beverages from US retailers. The cold brewed drinks will be available black or flavored with the company’s sweet milk jug, vanilla jug or oat milk. The coffee itself is made from 100% arabica beans.

The launch comes because more Americans drink their coffee at home than in the office or in a coffee shop. In the ready-to-drink coffee category, retail sales rose 17% to $ 1.6 billion in the 52 weeks ended October 31, according to Nielsen. Keurig Dr. Pepper is one of the winners of the trend. Net sales of its coffee systems increased 3% to $ 1.1 billion in the third quarter.

However, the Chobani coffee line has been in the works since the successful launch of the coffee creamers, which have been used to educate the company about coffee drinkers.

“We started with the dairy and it went so well that we said we should keep going and this was the next natural step for us,” said Niel Sandfort, Chobani’s chief innovation officer, in an interview.

Sandfort said the company looks forward to bringing its yogurt flavoring expertise to its new categories, including coffee.

Chobani Coffee has a suggested retail price of $ 4.49 per 32-ounce multiserve pack and contains about 85 milligrams of caffeine per serving, which is standard for coffee. The bottles are made with Tetra Top cardboard so they can be easily recycled.

“At its core, Chobani’s business model for food development is to own the manufacture so our cost is reasonable. Therefore, we can provide these high quality ingredients but are not as expensive as you think,” said Sandfort.

When Chobani launched his coffee creamers, he focused on using real cream or oat milk instead of the hydrogenated vegetable oils normally used in these type of products. Sandfort said the line is attracting new customers as a result who previously didn’t use creamer. And now the company is hoping Chobani Coffee will bring the same additional traffic to the ready-to-drink category.