Convenient coffee is the fastest-growing segment in the broader coffee industry. Private label RTD coffee, cold brew, and nitro coffee are all exhibiting stong upward trajectories as modern consumers seek drinks that better fit their lifestyles. 

As a coffee company, launching a line of ready-to-drink coffee that is up to the standards you have instilled in your business can seem a difficult task. RTD manufacturing facilities and equipment can eat into tight margins and mean higher labour costs and new safety measures. 

By choosing instead to partner with a private label cold brew coffee business with a proven track record in safety, quality, and consistency, companies can get to market faster with products they trust to perform well.

We spoke to Aleksander Bielicki, head of marketing at Strauss Coffee, to learn more.

Black nitro coffee by Hardtank

What is RTD coffee, and why should businesses invest in private label production?

RTD, or ready-to-drink, coffee is a broad term encompassing a vast variety of coffee-based drinks usually packaged in convenient single-serve units, like aluminium cans, glass bottles, or flexible pouches. 

Indeed, the types of coffee used as a base and sold as a ready-to-drink product range from instant powder, espresso shots, cold brew, nitro coffee, and flash-chilled coffee. These bases are often mixed with further additives or flavourings, including milk powder, fresh milk, and non-dairy plant-based alternatives. 

In 2024, the worldwide RTD coffee market, in supermarkets and convenience stores alone (at-home consumption), is estimated to be worth over $36 billion. RTD coffee sold out-of-home – in bars, restaurants, and hotels – amounts to a further $570 million. 

In comparison, the global coffee shop market size was valued at $78.9 billion in 2022. RTD coffee is worth almost half already, growing from far more recent beginnings. 

Several factors are driving RTD coffee growth. Quality has vastly improved over the previous decade, with a much more diverse – including specialty-grade – range of coffee beverage types more widely available. With quality, consistency has also dramatically increased, thanks to stricter food safety standards, like BRCGS, improving consumer confidence in such products. 

Consumer behaviour has also shifted to match the increasingly busy, on-the-go, and globalised lifestyles of coffee drinkers. Health and wellness trends, plant-based diets, and sustainability are now well entrenched in the consumer landscape. 

RTD coffee, packaged correctly – with sustainable materials and eye-catching aesthetics – holds natural appeal to customers seeking products that match these new ideals. Slimline, recyclable aluminium cans with social-media-friendly branding jump off supermarket shelves. 

“Brand aesthetic and focus on the memorable and distinctive assets of a company is key to success. Given the growing complexity of categories, multi-channel shoppers approach very focused brands, and their attention is held via look and feel,” says Aleksander. 

Creating products that live up to these expectations can be a daunting task, especially for fledgling coffee businesses or those who have focused their expertise elsewhere, like service or roasting. 

The great benefit of private label RTD coffee is the ability to outsource these skills to a partner that has the requisite experience to create products that meet or exceed the standards a coffee business has set elsewhere in their operations.

Hardtank private label rtd coffee

Things to look out for when choosing your private label RTD coffee partner

Experience is absolutely essential to a successful private label arrangement. As a coffee business, your pride is in your beans, beverages, and customers. When looking to replicate this level of care and attention in an RTD product, you need to ensure your partner values these traits and has the coffee knowledge to back it up. 

Hardtank’s private label RTD coffee services, for example, are the result of over 15 years in the specialty coffee industry, operating cafés, roasteries, and wholesale accounts and managing relationships with the farmers and growers who form the most foundational level of the coffee supply chain. 

Customers know the difference between a great cup of coffee and an average one, and the same holds true for RTD alternatives. If your existing customers recognise your brand on a convenience store shelf, they will expect the same level of craft and quality as they do in your brick-and-mortar coffee shops or from your packaged beans. 

Ensuring you choose a private label RTD coffee partner with serious coffee chops is the first crucial step in a successful foray into the on-the-go coffee space. 

On top of experience, a variety of beverage options should be available to you. Not only is it advantageous to launch with a stratified offering, but as you grow and scale, you’ll want to keep customers intrigued with new options. Variety is one of the most important factors in modern consumer purchasing decisions, so a partner that can offer you a broad range of options from the outset will help you avoid the headaches of changing suppliers later on. 

With variety should also come flexibility, competitive pricing, and safety guarantees. RTD coffee success generally means listing in large retailers, which means rigid supplier requirements. Many of the world’s leading retailers specifically request BRCGS Food Safety certifications – without this, they won’t list your products. 

By choosing a private label RTD coffee supplier with the proper certifications, you better protect your consumers while simultaneously gaining better access to essential revenue streams. 

However, while you chase larger supplier contracts, the initial quantity requirements may be limited. Many RTD coffee manufacturers require large minimum order quantities – sometimes upwards of 50,000 units – and once the products are produced, they need to be stored and sold before their expiration. 

At Hardtank, we offer MOQs from just 3,000 units per SKU because we understand that retail success doesn’t happen overnight. By helping our partners quickly produce the correct quantities – 6-week turnaround times – they can avoid the larger financial risks associated with mass production early on. 

We also offer our private label RTD coffee in highly customisable slimline aluminium cans, presenting a sleek, 360-degree canvas for our partners to design, brand, and label precisely as they want. Aluminium cans are one of the most widely recycled RTD beverage packaging formats and resonate well with customers seeking sustainable packaging. 

“Sustainability goes beyond the product itself,” says Aleksander. “Companies need to address it at all levels. The practical approach to tackling things which are achievable in a realistic time frame is the key to success. Many smaller steps can lead to a bigger result.”

By choosing to partner with a private label RTD coffee manufacturer like Hardtank, you can be assured that every small step is taken correctly, from coffee expertise to quality, consistency, and safety to scalable variety and manufacturing terms. 

To bring your own line of private label RTD coffee to life, visit our website or get in touch with us directly

If you missed our recent cold brew webinar, you can still catch a recording here

Private label cold brew coffee