Clean label movement will drive coffee creamer trends
In the recent past, product development in coffee creamers centered largely around new flavors. However, in the foreseeable future, new product formulations with ingredients that meet consumers' “clean label” criteria are expected to spur growth, states a new report from the Packaged Facts division of Rockville, Md.-based MarketResearch.com. Further boosting dollar sales will be the premium pricing associated with “pure,” “real,” natural and organic foods.
Looking ahead, clean label products will be essential in growing U.S. retail sales of coffee creamers to a projected $2.9 billion by 2020, states the May "Refrigerated Coffee Creamers: U.S. Market Trends" report. The forecast growth is a 15 percent increase from sales of $2.5 billion in 2015.
According to Packaged Facts, two-thirds of consumers prefer foods and beverages with fewer ingredients. With consumer concerns over unhealthful/unnatural ingredients, clean label creamers are expected to attract and appeal to a growing segment of new, more health-conscious coffee drinkers. Government-mandated cleaner labels are on the horizon, as well, further benefitting the market. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the food industry until June 2018 to phase out partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), a source of the trans fats that have been linked to heart disease. Coffee creamers are cited by FDA as an example of foods that may contain PHOs.
Major players in this segment are already benefitting from a shift to cleaner labels. For example, Nestlé’s Coffee-mate’s Natural Bliss dairy-based line is especially successful. Natural Bliss contains just five ingredients: milk, cream, cane sugar, salt and natural flavor. Natural Bliss, launched in 2011, experienced astronomical sales growth of more than 50 percent between 2014 and 2015. Nestlé was something of a pioneer in the mass-market clean label niche, and is now reaping the rewards of its prescience, Packaged Facts notes.
Additionally, the success of the handful of currently available dairy alternative creamers suggests great promise for this market. According to Packaged Facts, strong growth in the almond milk segment is the single most significant development in market trends. Expansion of the market for plant-based dairy alternative beverages will also be driven by new offerings such as cashew milk and hemp milk, and combination formulations with such ingredients as chia and quinoa.