If you’ve ever lived in or even visited New England, you know that Dunkin’ iced and cold brew coffee is a year-round affair. No matter how low the temperatures go, people living from Connecticut to Maine simply cannot give up that icy beverage. Even the Boston Globe took note of the phenomenon in 2017, exclaiming in a headline, “‘Iced coffee is a way of life’ — even in the dead of winter.”
So, that is what makes the announcement that Dunkin’ will roll out cold brew concentrates in the spring of 2023 all the more exciting. “Just in the last three years, we’ve added almost $200 million in revenue,” Joseph Stanziano, senior vice president and general manager of coffee, shared with Food Business News. “That’s the equivalent of adding a top-ten brand in the category.”
And now, Stanziano says, it’s aiming for $1 billion with the help of more specialized coffee items. “So, as we think about the path to $1 billion, we think there [are] multiple opportunities to get there,” Stanziano. “Base business, we have core distribution opportunities as well as market share gains, innovation, seasonal flavors, and the new cold brew in K-Cups and roast and ground. … We’re really excited to launch Dunkin’ in liquid concentrates this spring.”
Stanziano added that much of the forward-thinking ideation on at-home coffee is thanks to what he calls the “fourth-wave” coffee consumer, who needs and wants “convenient solutions to really create and prepare these specialized drinks.”
Can’t wait for the concentrates to hit store shelves? Dunkin’ already offers a number of ways to consume cold coffee, including cold ground coffee, cold brew coffee packs, and cold K-Cup pods.
According to Food & Wine, there are several ways to make cold brew at home with any beans you’d like, including adding grounds to a large vessel and steeping it in cold water for 12 to 24 hours, or by doing the same in a French press for a somewhat easier process. There are also plenty of cold brew coffee makers on the market that range from easy-to-use to professional-grade that will absolutely suffice in the meantime.
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