Innovation in instant coffee: a $ 10 billion opportunity

The demand for instant coffee is increasing. People working outside their homes, living in cities and having little time to prepare the drink are factors that drive this growth. The global market is worth $ 10 billion today and is estimated to reach $ 13 billion by 2022. Instant coffee innovation is fueling demand, today’s products have improved aroma and appealing packaging.

Instant coffee, also known as soluble coffee, is made by processing roasted and ground coffee beans. Usually two methods are used: spray drying and lyophilization. Spray drying is the most widely used and cheap method, but lyophilization generates a better product.

The main players are multinationals like Nestlé (almost owns a monopoly with Nescafé, we talk about an innovation in their business models in this post here), Jacob Douwe Egberts and Strauss group.

Taproom Nescafé cafeteria: another innovation in instant coffee (from this post here)

Not only the big players compete in this market, the American startup Sudden Coffee wants to revolutionize the segment with better quality coffee, high technology and a new business model.

Sudden Coffee already has competition, Alpine Start also bet on the same technology to make coffee soluble, but directed to another audience, the climbers, to take on the excursions.

Instant coffees have a bitter taste and sometimes even burned taste due to its processing. In general, the coffee used has the worst quality and the dehydration is done in high temperature. There is demand for better coffee, made with good grains, freeze-drying and low-temperature dehydration. They found a balance between temperature, pressure and drying time.

The result is more expensive than the others, but they expect to decrease as production scales up. Another difference is the business model: coffee as a service. The customer pays a monthly fee over the internet and receives the packages at home. A practical and convenient alternative, of course, it is not as tasty as fresh coffee, but it surpasses the instant competitors.

Finally, T’remo aims to take convenience to another level with the “fastest coffee in the world”. Simply put the stick in the cup with boiling water, stir for 10 seconds and it’s ready. The American startup is in a crowdfunding campaign to make the project a reality.

Who says there is no innovation in instant coffee?

References: Tech Crunch, The Spoon, Sprudge, The New York Times, Paste Magazine, Snowboard Mag, Food Dive