Page 54 - #49 English

Company

Story by: Maja Wallengren

In The RTD Coffee Market,

Colombia’s Buencafé Extracts Rule

Since the early beginnings of modern café cul- Well known for years to industry officials in the
ture in the coffee markets from South-East Asia to Japan, RTD-market, soluble coffee in all its diverse presentations
soluble coffee has dominated consumer demand. But of the product, however, continue to be a mystery to many
going one step deeper into the soluble market, it’s the in the world of coffee. While often cast aside as a low
liquid concentrate known as extracts that by far has taken quality product in the past, instant coffee has in recent
over new market growth among Asia’s caffeine hungry years seen a revival of its own with industry leaders from
consumers when they head for an easy ready-to-drink Seattle-based Starbucks to Buencafé launching new top
(RDT) beverage. And there is no denying that when it quality 100 percent Arabica based soluble products. But
comes to top quality extracts for the coffee market, Co- within this market, what exactly is extracts and how is this
lombia’s instant manufacturer Buencafé rules. different from all the other variations of soluble coffee?
For 15 years world coffee consumption has “Coffee extract is a strong, concentrated, vis-
consistently been outperforming the market for gen- cous coffee liquid from which some water has been re-
eral consumer trends. As 2015 is heading toward the moved, but due to the fact that it is liquid, such extracts
end, global consumption continues to grow at about 2.5 are readily soluble even in cold water, and hence it is ideal
percent per year, with overall demand approaching 153 as the basic ingredient for RTD coffee beverages,” said
million 60-kilogram bags of coffee. Valentina Botero, Sales and Marketing Coordinator for
In this amazing growth curve for the coffee Buencafé in the Asian market.
industry it also continues to be the non-exporting emerg- She said that what has made extracts so popular
ing markets led by Asian nations such as South Korea and in the Asian markets - where hot temperatures often lead
Australia that are growing at almost double the average to a higher demand for iced or cold beverages - is that
global pace at 4.6 percent in 2014, statistics from the since only water needs to be added in order to prepare
International Coffee Organization show. the final RTD this product is particularly attractive to
The soluble sector accounts for an estimated the booming Asian café and coffee culture for an already
20 percent of total world consumption, according to fast paced economy. This, at the same time, has in turn
market research by Euromonitor International. Within raised the bar for the quality of the core product and raw
this market it’s the top-quality extracts that are keeping material it’s made from.
the surge for caffeine up, said Constanza Mejía, Director “The fact that often no other ingredient is used
for Buencafé, Colombia’s biggest soluble factory which makes it a must that the quality of the coffee extract is
is owned by the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation, the highest possible,” said Botero. “Coffee extracts are
or FNC. also used as natural coffee flavor in the ice cream and
“The market for extracts is a very stable market, liquor industries, and because it blends homogeneously
but where we are seeing a lot of developments is in the with solids, it is also used in the confectionary an candy
areas based on niche products with single origin raw industries,” she said.
materials, and differentiated extracts in terms of quality,” An estimated 4 percent of the world soluble
said Mejía, speaking to CT&I Magazine in an inclusive market is made up by extracts, but at Buencafé as much
interview. “Asia is by far the biggest consumer of extracts as 10 percent of the company’s total sales are from
in this market and what is so exciting to see at the mo- extracts, and of that share a stunning 60 percent come
ment is how Asian consumers increasingly are going for from sales in the Asian markets, company data reveals.
our product because they want a high quality product, Independent market research confirms that such figures
from the reliability on behalf of the supplier to the value are leading the current trend while the trend for RTD
added quality that comes from Buencafé’s long tradition products in particular is only expected to continue its
of innovation in the soluble market,” said Mejía. impressive growth curve.
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