Lincoln & York expert highlights ways to increase sales
THE continued growth of the coffee category provides convenience retailers with an opportunity to increase sales.
That’s the view of private-label coffee manufacturer Lincoln & York category insight manager Richard Milner.
He cited NIQ data that shows the UK retail coffee market is now valued at £1.31billion, up 5.9% on the previous year.
But while instant coffee is a c-store staple, Milner believes the channel should cater to increasingly popular, higher-quality formats.
He pointed out that the most rapidly growing format is whole beans, which are now worth £70.3million in retail, 14.7% higher than the previous year, according to NIQ.
Milner said: “During the pandemic, consumers looked to create their favourite coffee shop drinks at home, which led to an increase in coffee machine ownership, and this has continued to be a trend as more people work from home.
“C-stores should consider introducing whole bean products to cater to consumers who need to pick up a fresh bag of beans for their coffee machine.”
Another growing format is coffee bags, which offer the same rich taste and quality of ground coffee but with the convenience of a teabag style format.
Milner said: “These have been adopted by many large-scale and speciality roasters as a way of appealing to consumers who want the ease of an instant coffee with no compromise on flavour, and are a great addition to a c-store coffee range.”
Costa Coffee RTD offers a chilled way to appeal
RTD chilled coffee is an increasingly popular choice – up 10.3% in value over the past year, according to Nielsen.
And the growth is being driven by Costa Coffee RTD, which is now worth £24.4million, up 31.7%, says Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP), the firm behind the brand.
CCEP senior trade communications manager Amy Burgess said part of the success was because Costa was one of the only full ranges in the segment to be 100% HFSS-compliant.
She said: “Featuring lattes, flat whites and frappés, Costa’s range caters to a broad variety of different tastes and occasions, offering shoppers a choice of low, medium and high-intensity caffeine options, as well as different coffee flavours and levels of sweetness to have on their own or alongside meals and snacks.
“And so far in 2024, to help drive incremental sales, we have launched PMP versions of the Costa Coffee Latte and Caramel Latte RTD ranges, offering a unique selling point exclusive to convenience retailers to help enhance their competitive edge when it comes to the RTD chilled coffee segment.”
