Canned coffee—also known as ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee—is taking up more and more shelf space at grocery stores. In fact, the category is growing faster than the global coffee industry as a whole, and is projected to be valued at $43.8 billion by 2028.
Today’s RTD coffee market is populated by many of the industry’s largest players, from Starbucks to Nestlé. However, the category isn’t just for multinational brands—independent coffee roasters and shops are increasingly finding opportunities in canned coffee, too, especially given that many manufacturing partners don’t require major upfront investment.
And there’s good reason to get involved. Canned drinks open the door to wider distribution and brand recognition in new retail and event spaces, from grocery stores to hotel minibars. Read on to learn how three different coffee businesses have made a successful transition into RTD.
Getting Canned
Spill the Beans, a coffee and bagel store in San Diego with five locations, launched cold brew cans in May 2024 with roasting partner DropKick Brew. “They have an established cold brew canning business and have been valuable partners as we enter this segment of the coffee market,” says regional manager Connor Nerat. Spill the Beans currently offers single cans and six-packs of its popular cold brew at its own stores and sister restaurants. In future, it plans to grow this segment of the business by offering cold brew subscriptions and adding new flavors.
Although RTD beverages have allowed Spill the Beans to reach new consumers, the primary aim of its canned coffee launch was to offer existing patrons a fresh way to engage with the brand. “Our approach has been less about reaching new customers and more about offering our existing customers a different way to enjoy our cold brew,” Nerat says. “Sometimes it’s not always feasible for our customers to come into the shops each day for a cup of coffee, so by offering cold brew cans, our customers can keep our cold brew stocked at home or at their office.”
Chicago-based Stan’s Donuts & Coffee offers its signature cold brew in cans at its dozen-plus locations, as well as at Jewel-Osco grocery stores to reach customers in new settings. “It’s all about bringing the quality and flavor we’re known for to even more people in an accessible, portable way,” says chief of staff Katrina Sarovich.
The canned cold brew has been so successful that Sarovich says Stan’s is looking to expand and offer flavored or sweetened options in the future.
Sarovich says that finding the right partner is crucial for coffee businesses looking to expand into canned drinks—Stan’s works with Sip Factory, a cold brew co-manufacturing business in Elgin, Illinois. But it’s not enough to offload all the logistics to them: She says that being involved in the canning process and working closely with your manufacturer is pivotal.
“Ensure the product maintains its flavor and freshness throughout its shelf life with proper testing and adjustments,” Sarovich counsels. “A focus on quality and detail will help your canned drinks reflect your brand and meet customer expectations.”
Stan’s two-tone pink and brown cans have a simple but distinctive design that Sarovich says stands out on shelves. “The design captures the playful and welcoming essence of our brand while staying true to the iconic look of our donut shops.”
The Future of Canned Coffee
California-based Verve Coffee Roasters launched its canned coffee beverage, Nitro Flash Brew Coffee, in 2018, expanding to three SKUs in 2020 with original, single-origin, and decaf options. Today, Nitro Flash Brew is available at Verve cafe locations in Santa Cruz, Los Angeles, Palo Alto and San Francisco, as well as online.
Unlike RTD coffee beverages that use cold brew, Verve wanted to—as the name of the drink suggests—focus on canning flash brew coffee, or coffee that is brewed hot and then quickly chilled. “Flash Brew was our response to ‘what’s next’ in the cold brew RTD category … and was created to cater to the growing consumer demand for high-quality, ready-to-drink craft coffees,” says Verve co-founder Colby Barr.
Barr sees the company’s canned beverages as a way to meet customers outside traditional cafe environments. “With Flash Brew especially, we look to meet our customers where they are, whether that’s working from home, camping in the woods, or out and about [and] on the go,” he says. “We want people to be able to grab some Verve even if they are not near a cafe or somewhere they are able to brew it.”
Flash Brew has also helped Verve expand its reach. The cans are now available nationwide in specialty cafes and bakeries, boutique hotels, offices, airport lounges, and independent retailers. “We have seen the most success in grocery locations where our full lineup is displayed in their cold cases for customers,” Barr says.
With the market for canned beverages only continuing to grow, now is a good time for coffee businesses to consider canning their own beverages. But where should you start? Barr advises folks looking to enter the RTD market to make sure that what they put into a can is still held to their brands’ same high standards, and crafted using top-quality coffee.
Any coffee shop looking to enter the canned beverage space should start by offering their most popular beverage first, says Nerat. “Focus on what’s already working at your shop, and use canned drinks as a way to further tap into your existing customer base. By offering a product that you know is already a hit, you avoid having to chase sales and find new customers.”
