We always try to keep our finger on the pulse of what’s happening in FMCG, so we were very pleased recently to meet with a company who are planning to launch a great new product into the cold-hot drinks category to discuss how we could help them engage with consumers and establish themselves in market full of opportunities.

In 2011, the Guardian described the trend towards cold-hot drinks as a “curious American concept” but the recent Britvic soft drinks review reveals that the segment has been the star performer in the soft drinks market for 4 years in a row with value and volume sales rising by more than 43% in the last year.

So what’s going on; why are cold-hot drinks flying off the shelves – whilst the smoothie sub-category for example, booming a while back, is struggling now?

Partially it’s down to the willingness of the consumer to spend on unique and affordable treats such as iced tea or coffee, and the segment is also exploiting the inexorable move towards healthier drinks that are free from artificial ingredients, and the growing health awareness of the consumer; pretty much every iced tea brand for example is sold on the basis of the well-known health benefits of green tea – a considerable challenge for marketers to get right given the EU regulations on health claims for “functional foods”.

There have been a number of new cold-hot drink brands launched in the last couple of years, here’s a look at a couple that have caught our eye:

Jimmy’s Iced Coffee

No discussion of cold-hot drinks would be complete without mentioning Jim Cregan, the man who took the segment by storm after falling in love with Farmer’s Union Iced Coffee in Australia. Made with British milk and ethically sourced coffee, the success of the brand is due in no small part to Jim’s massive personality and willingness to dress up as a giant coffee carton when pitching to buyers.

Arizona Green Tea

A favourite of the stars of Hollywood, the distinctive packaging of Arizona Green Tea has been on UK shelves since last year and claims to combine the health benefits of green tea with an assortment of exotic flavours, fruit juices, ginseng and honey.

Itsu Iced Tea

Itsu, the oriental restaurant and retail brand created by Pret A Manger founder Julian Metcalfe expanded into the cold-hot drink segment last year with its iced tea offering. Unlike most other iced tea brands, Itsu uses white tea extract which reputedly has greater health benefits and comes in a completely recyclable cardboard ‘can’.

MangaJo Sparkling Presse

MangaJo is different to some of the other iced tea drinks out there because it’s lightly carbonated and comes in a familiar 330ml aluminium can, designed to offer a healthy fizzy drink alternative to consumers who might not have tried iced tea before.

Teaforia shake and brew

Teaforia shake and brew is an interesting and innovative take on iced tea that taps into the boom in bottled water and the growing trend for flavoured “water enhancers”. A specially shaped, quick-brewing tea bag designed to fit through the neck of any water bottle, Teaforia allows consumers to make their own green tea drink anywhere they can drink a bottle of water.

Thinking of launching into the cold-hot drinks segment?
Here are a few tips…

Your packaging will often be the consumers’ first point of contact with your brand. It sounds obvious but you need to have a really clear understanding of precisely who you want to sell your product to so your designers can get the shelf appeal just right.

Following on from the previous point, what are the benefits or advantages of your product, and what makes it better or different from your competitors? Do you want to promote the health aspects? Perhaps your product is ethically sourced or uses only local ingredients? Having a strong handle on this will help hugely when it comes to developing a packaging design that gets across quickly and clearly why the consumer should buy your product.

You need to be clear on your route to market, whether that’s via wholesale to independents, direct to grocery, foodservice with the on-trade or perhaps another route entirely – sometimes lateral thinking is required to establish yourself and grab a slice of the market share.