Peet’s Coffee has unveiled its new ready-to-drink (RTD) line with Baridi Black, Coffee au Lait, and Dark Chocolate. The new line features high-quality ingredients, including Peet’s freshly-roasted beans that are cold brewed to the same standard used in its cafés. Peet’s Cold Brew will ship starting July 25 and will soon be available in select Peet’s Coffee cafés, grocery stores, and partner locations in the San Francisco Bay Area before expanding into new markets.

“We’re proud to launch our ready-to-drink line during our 50th anniversary year, as these new Cold Brew beverages build on the heritage of Peet’s Coffee and our five decades of coffee craftsmanship,” says Dave Burwick, Peet’s Coffee CEO. “Coffee consumers are increasingly sophisticated and by leveraging the equity we have in coffee, we’re introducing beverages that will delight not just our existing fan base of Peetniks, but all coffee lovers.”  

The new RTD Cold Brew, with a suggested retail price of $3.99, comes in three offerings:

· Baridi Black Cold Brew: the purest expression of Cold Brew from Peet’s Coffee, served straight up in a 12-ounce glass bottle

· Coffee au Lait Cold Brew: a coffee-forward pairing of Baridi Black with rBST-free milk and pure cane sugar, in a 10-ounce carton.

·Dark Chocolate Cold Brew: Baridi Black made with rBST-free milk and rich Guittard cocoa, in a 10-ounce carton.

In keeping with the company’s reputation for expertly crafted coffee, the base for the new Cold Brew RTD line starts with the proprietary East African Baridi Blend, sourced from smallholder farms, and specially selected for its bright, juicy, and aromatic profile. Each batch is hand roasted and then slow brewed without heat for a smooth but bold coffee.

To uphold the strict standards Peet’s has for quality, flavor and freshness, each recipe is perfected with carefully sourced ingredients, including real cane sugar, rBST-free milk, and rich cocoa from Guittard Chocolate Company, a family-owned Bay Area chocolatier for more than five generations. There are no artificial ingredients, colors or preservatives, and no carrageenan. Peet’s is providing Direct Store Delivery (DSD) of RTD Cold Brew beverages in its own refrigerated trucks to ensure product makes it to shelves as quickly as possible and under the best conditions, so every bottle and carton is as fresh and flavorful as possible.

Given the overwhelmingly positive response to the cold brew that Peet’s launched in its cafés during summer 2015, this year’s newly launched RTD line was a natural progression to meeting customer demand for a grab-and-go option. The trend is predicted to continue accelerating; as cited by Beverage Marketing Corporation in 2015, cold brew is projected to lead the high growth “New Age Beverage” category, outpacing kombucha, coconut water, energy drinks, and juice.

“Ready to drink is yet another example of our commitment to innovate,” says Jessica Mitchell, senior director of innovation. “Last year we fully transformed our iced coffee program by shifting from a hot brew that was chilled over ice to a cold brew that was slow brewed. This shift drove double-digit growth for our cold coffee business in our cafés, and was among the highest performing product lines in our entire portfolio. We are excited to continue fueling growth by enhancing our offerings with ready-to-drink Cold Brew.”