Breath of Fresh Air for Holiday Season
Inspired by the industry’s leading national-level coffee players, numerous coffee brands across the US, in retail, as well as through regional coffee chains, are experimenting with seasonally-inspired additions to their portfolios.
With interesting tastes such as peppermint, pumpkin and gingerbread, these drinks can reportedly command as much as double the price of a regular cup of coffee in coffee outlets – not only that but they also accounted for a reported 10 per cent of all hot beverages that were purchased during last year’s festive period.
Within the retail environment, what once seemed like an indulgent passing phase is said to have become a blossoming sub-sector of the coffee market. Offerings such as Caribou Coffee’s Fa La Latte and Ho Ho Mint Mocha, Maxwell House’s Peppermint Latte mix and Coffee-mate’s Eggnog Latte and Gingerbread Latte are gaining popularity as the holiday season approaches.
Leading coffee chains have already proven the success of their seasonal holiday flavours, with one reporting a 30 per cent increase in its sales for the winter period last year, when compared with the previous year where such tastes were yet to come. "The consumer has been in this comfort mood for a long time," said a spokesperson for one of the key players in question.
However, unique flavours are not always an instant hit and require considerable tweaking to achieve the right recipe, as the leading coffee businesses have had to learn the hard way, taking up to as many as 12 attempts to find a winning taste.