Sales of refrigerated ready-to-drink coffee units rise 155%. Tea doesn’t fare badly, either. Sales of canned and bottled tea, a billion-dollar industry, rise nearly 5%.
Based on the latest findings, it’s possible that consumers are passing up their local coffee and tea shops for the nearest grocery store because ready-to-drink coffee and tea sales are increasing.
Data provided by SymphonyIRI Group, Chicago, show that sales in the shelf-stable tea/coffee ready-to-drink category rose 3.2% to $1.6 billion in the 52 weeks ended July 8, 2012, with the unit sales also showing an increase of 5.1% to 747.7 million. Likewise, the RTD refrigerated teas/coffee category saw an even larger increase of 16.3% to $508.5 million with units up 9.5% to 234.2 million. The categories consist of the following segments: