STiR coffee and tea magazine

32 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 4, 2018 (August / September) Chameleon's sales reached US$4.7 million during a 12-month period ending Dec. 3, 2017, according to IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm (@iriworldwide). Stumptown sold nearly $3.7 million in cold brew during the same period. More significant than the dollars is the growth. Chame- leon's sales of 1,315,176 units was a 70.2% increase over the same period a year before. Stumptown sold 1,730,759 units for an 89.5% increase. And while cold brew continues to be tracked within the ready-to-drink coffee category in many reports, it's rapidly be- coming a story all its own. Cold brew has grown almost 350% in popularity during the past five years. It still has a relatively small base in terms of volume, but plenty of believers in the industry. McClafferty is one of them, balancing on the cutting edge of the cold brew growth curve. He and a business partner launched cold brew manufacturing equipment company CoffeeWorks three years ago in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. He watched as sales slowly grew to 12 of the $15,000 systems in 2017. During the first six months of 2018, orders doubled for the company's scaleable production system with capacities ranging from 50 to 5,000 gallons at a time. He expects many more orders. "We're hoping to be doing five systems per month starting in September," he said. "Hopefully we'll be able to continue that pace and even grow it throughout 2019." New Orleans style James Freeman began experimenting with his Blue Bottle Cof- fee recipes in the early 2000s, mixing cold-steeped coffee with chicory to create New Orleans-style cold brew. That New Orleans taste was nothing new to Bebe Goodrich, another coffee entrepreneur who now serves as director of liq- uid innovation for Alabama-based Royal Cup Coffee and Tea, a coffee importer and roaster for nearly 125 years. call" where businesses could pitch products and concepts to the American retailing giant. Walmart liked what it tasted in Ice- box's cold brew. "Walmart gave us the opportunity," Goodrich said, "but it was an opportunity we couldn't manage on our own." Goodrich turned to Royal Cup which had been Icebox's roaster from day one. Royal Cup acquired Icebox and Goodrich took the lead on the company's liquid products – cold brew, teas and juices. "I didn't realize at the time what Icebox had stumbled on, an emerging category shift. I grew up on it so in my mind, we were not innovating," she said. "We took the cold brew coffee we grew up on and made it shelf stable. "What makes Royal Cup relevant moving forward is that we can make it shelf stable and accessible to people." While Icebox was developing cold brew rooted in chicory, Stumptown was making its name among specialty coffee con- sumers in the Pacific Northwest. "What Stumptown did was they brought cold brew to the forefront for the Third Wave consumer," Goodrich said. "They made it mainstream. We have to applaud companies that help bring specialty products to the forefront." Looking ahead Goodrich said the cold brew market will only increase with time. Investors large and small across the coffee industry appear to agree. "The experience is so tangibly different that there's no way to go back. Cold brew delivers a superior product," she said. "Cold brew only entered the mainstream market in the past two summers. It has a lot of runway in front of it. In three years we still may be saying there are so many opportunities." CoffeeWorks' John McClafferty sees a similar future. "People are coming to the realization that cold brew is not a fad. More people are willing to invest. Small roasteries are buy- ing our 50-gallon producing units. Coffee shops are producing their cold brew in house. Large cold packers are buying 3,000 gallons," he said. "We have systems in Europe, Dubai, the United States, and Mexico," he added. "Early adaptors in Europe have seen it blow up over here and they want to get ahead the curve over there." Califa Nitro Cold Brew CoffeeWorks, Inc., is experiencing rapid sales growth for its cold brew equipment, including this 2,500-gallon system. "I grew up in New Orleans where cold brew is ubiqui- tous," Goodrich said recently. "We have seen a huge growth [in cold brew sales] in the last five years but in New Orleans, it has always been the domi- nant drink." Goodrich couldn't find "that flavor, that spirit and ex- perience" outside her home- town so she started making it on her own, founding Icebox Coffee in 2012 when "cold brew was not a big thing." Icebox was percolating nicely when she took her product to a Walmart "open Photo courtesy CoffeeWorks, Inc.

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