The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the beverage industry “is on a quest to make the coffee maker a relic. They are selling cans and bottles of coffee drinks, aimed at convenience-obsessed Americans who want an indulgence and an energy boost but don't want to actually dump grounds in a pot, add water and — this is the worst part — wait.”
Tracey Doucette, who runs North American Coffee Partnership, a joint venture between Pepsi and Starbucks, told a recent conference that while about 80 percent of American households have coffee, but only 10 percent have ready-to-drink coffee: "There's a big opportunity there,” she said.
Coca-Cola also is embracing the trend, with its soon-to-launch launch line of latte and mocha drinks with Godiva and its coffee/cola drink Coca-Cola Blak.
Tracey Doucette, who runs North American Coffee Partnership, a joint venture between Pepsi and Starbucks, told a recent conference that while about 80 percent of American households have coffee, but only 10 percent have ready-to-drink coffee: "There's a big opportunity there,” she said.
Coca-Cola also is embracing the trend, with its soon-to-launch launch line of latte and mocha drinks with Godiva and its coffee/cola drink Coca-Cola Blak.
- KC's View:
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We read stories like this and we feel old.
Not because we mind the idea of ready-to-drink coffee products. We don’t.
But because we are old enough to think that the sound and smell of the coffee maker in the early morning hours is one of the best things about waking up. It just defines the day in a primal way…the same way that we love the sound of a cork being removed from a wine bottle, or the sound an engine makes when we shift gears using a manual transmission. (We also sort of like the sound a typewriter makes, though we’ve learned to live without that…)
But despite anachronistic feelings like these, the facts remain that as consumers change, retailers and manufacturers have to keep up.
No choice.
Of course, even as new rules become evident, there always are contradictions. Which is what our next story implies…
