Nestle USA Acquires Chameleon Cold Brew
By Steve Holtz on Nov. 06, 2017AUSTIN, Texas -- Nestle USA is diversifying its coffee portfolio with the acquisition of Chameleon Cold Brew, a provider of premium coffee sourced consciously and grown sustainably. Founded in 2010, Austin, Texas-based Chameleon has become a leading organic cold-brew brand in the United States, and one of the top three refrigerated cold-brew brands in the U.S.
Its portfolio consists of multiserve concentrates and single-serve RTD products, two segments that account for 18% of the $2.5 billion in-home coffee category.
“We believe the Chameleon brand is perfectly positioned to support Nestle’s strategy for coffee, which is to have a variety of offerings in terms of format, taste and price points,” said Paul Grimwood, chairman and CEO of Nestle USA, Arlington, Va. “We believe this relationship will benefit both of us as we expand our access to the emerging cold-brew category while helping Chameleon grow so that more people can enjoy its delicious, premium crafted coffee.”
Nestle is the world’s largest coffee producer, according to the company. In the United States, it markets the Nescafe, Taster’s Choice and Nespresso brands, as well as Coffeemate creamers.
Here are six other cold-brew coffee brands we’re watching …
1. Starbucks
Seattle-based Starbucks put the coffee flavor of fall into a packaged beverage this year. The coffee giant brought its Pumpkin Spice Latte to store shelves this fall as a line extension to the ready-to-drink Iced Latte it introduced in June 2017.
Ready-to-drink Starbucks Iced Latte will continue to roll out other limited-time flavors throughout the year, the company said. The suggested retail price is $2.79 for a 14-ounce bottle.
2. Soylent
Ready-to-drink meal maker Soylent has added a line of cafe flavors to its drinks. The latest flavors in the line of nutritionally complete, ready-to-drink products are Cafe Vanilla and Cafe Chai. These selections join Coffiest in Soylent's new Cafe line of caffeinated beverages.
Sold in 12-ounce bottles, the drinks are designed to provide the vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates and protein that the body needs in a convenient, ready-to-drink package. All three Cafe flavors provide an added boost of caffeine and the relaxing benefits of L-theanine to promote increased cognitive performance, according to the Los Angeles-based company.
3. Blackeye Roasting
Blackeye Roasting Co., St. Paul, Minn., has opened a new, 28,800-square-foot brewing facility in St. Paul to expand its capacity for production of nitro cold-brew cans. The new facility will allow Blackeye Roasting to take the full brewing and canning process in-house and scale up to over 500,000 cases (or 6.5 million cans) per year. The company’s goal is to build the brand to the level of major players in the cold-brew space and to continue to expand to additional states across the country.
Blackeye drinks are available in 12-ounce cans.
4. Coffee So Good
Coffee So Good is a line of ready-to-drink cold-pressed coffees fortified with raw cashews for a creamy texture and protein boost.
Manufactured by So Good So You, Minneapolis, the line of organic caffeinated beverages is available nationwide in five flavors: Cashew Coffee, Lavender Nutte, Cashew Mocha, Cashew Chai and Vanilla Nutte.
Each cold-brew coffee has 4 grams of protein, 160 calories and 9 grams of sugar.
5. Malk Cold Brew
Milk alternative Malk is getting in on the cold-brew-coffee craze. The Houston-based company has partnered with Greenway Coffee—sustainably grown in Chiapas, Mexico—to create a Malk Cold Brew blend with its own pecan-powered Malk. The drink is available in 12-ounce PET bottles.
6. Stumptown Coffee Roasters
Portland, Ore.-based Stumptown Coffee Roasters launched a ready-to-drink sparkling cold-brew coffee this past spring. The drinks, packaged in 12-ounce cans, are available in three flavors: Original, Honey Lemon and Ginger Citrus.