Eight years into the Global Coffee Alliance, the two companies are deploying their combined scale into one of the fastest-growing arenas in packaged beverages, with the debut of a premium concentrate designed to replicate the coffeehouse cold-coffee experience at home.
For years, the cold coffee category has posted growth figures that most other beverage segments could only envy. Fuelled by younger consumers redefining their daily coffee ritual, the chilled and iced segment has evolved from a niche offering into a structural driver of category revenue. That trajectory is now pulling the world’s two most powerful coffee organisations into coordinated competition for the at-home occasion.
The Global Coffee Alliance, the licensing and distribution arrangement struck between Nestlé and Starbucks in 2018, gave Nestlé the rights to sell, market, and distribute Starbucks-branded consumer packaged goods outside its coffeehouses. Since then, the partnership has built a retail presence spanning nearly 80 markets across retail, foodservice, and at-home channels. The new concentrate, Starbucks Coffee Craft, is the latest, and most strategically pointed, expansion of that mandate.
Cold coffee concentrate sits at the intersection of several durable consumer trends: the demand for premiumisation, the rise of home customisation, and a growing preference for formats that offer flexibility over single-serve convenience. Concentrates allow consumers to adjust strength, choose their preferred liquid, and replicate a range of coffeehouse-style drinks from a single SKU. That proposition is what Nestlé and Starbucks are now bringing to market at scale.
“Whether using water, milk, or plant-based alternatives, consumers can now personalise their coffee experience, from iced americanos to iced caramel macchiatos, with a simple pour and from the comfort of their homes.”
Ethel Touitou, Global Category Lead for Starbucks, Nestlé
Starbucks Coffee Craft launches first in Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom this year, before a wider European and Asian rollout in 2027. The initial range covers two variants, Rich Black and Signature Caramel, both built on Arabica beans and positioned to carry the flavour credentials that Starbucks has spent decades establishing in mainstream coffee culture.
The sequencing of the launch markets reflects considered commercial logic. Japan and South Korea are mature cold coffee markets where consumers have demonstrated sustained willingness to pay a premium for quality and brand provenance. The United Kingdom, with a coffee culture that has broadened considerably over the past decade, offers a receptive environment for at-home premiumisation. Together, the three markets provide a high-visibility proving ground ahead of the continental expansion.
“By partnering with Nestlé we are able to scale Starbucks coffee experiences into new formats and occasions, reaching more consumers around the world.”
Nik Dodi, Vice President Global Coffee Alliance, Starbucks
For Nestlé, the move reinforces the strategic logic that has shaped its coffee portfolio since the inception of the Alliance. The company has consistently argued that the partnership creates incremental demand rather than displacing it across channels. Starbucks Coffee Craft extends that argument into cold, a format where branded premium options at the concentrate tier remain limited.
The competitive read for the broader category is unambiguous. Cold coffee is no longer a growth adjacency, it is the growth story. Forecasts projecting the segment past USD four billion by 2030 are attracting serious capital and strategic attention from across the industry. With Nestlé’s manufacturing scale and Starbucks’ brand equity now formally aligned behind a concentrate format, rival producers and private-label offerings in that tier will face increased pressure as the rollout gathers pace.
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