QSR August 2022

Dutch Bros. is using its loyalty base to promote cold offerings, but the message is getting out through word-of-mouth as well. fresh ideas | COLD COFFEE | Cold Coffee Gets Hot Customers of all demographics are

changing how— and when—they drink the habitual classic. BY AMANDA BALTAZAR

S ervings of cold brew coffee ordered at quick-service res taurants climbed 27 percent in the 12 months ending April 2022, year-over-year, according to The NPD Group/CREST. That equated to 373 million servings, which is no small figure. Servings of frozen/slushy coffee from quick-serves during the same stretch jumped 3 percent to 726 million, showing custom ers are open to cold coffee in myriad formats. However, iced coffee remained the cold leader, as customers ordered 2.8 billion servings in the calendar up to April, up 11 per cent from the year prior. Roughly 70 percent of all sales at The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf are cold coffee and cold tea. Sanjiv Razdan, president, Americas

and India, attributes it to several factors: First, the consumption of coffee shop beverages has moved away from first thing in the morning “and become a pick-me-up treat, a recharge beverage that people consume across the day,” he says. “As that daypart consumption has changed, people use the beverage very differently. Cold is more versatile and tends to be more suitable for various dayparts up until late evening.” Secondly, the quality of these cold drinks has improved as con sumers’ became more sophisticated. “There’s an appreciation for the craftsmanship that goes into these drinks,” Razdan says. And finally, cold beverages fit snuggly into the off-premises trend that

DUTCH BROS.

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