UK – Independent B2B supplier of tea, coffee, and botanical solutions, Finlays is investing in a new coffee extraction facility in Nothern England to support emerging trends of consuming coffee.
According to a statement from the company, the new extraction plant in Hull will produce cold brew coffee for branded and own-label grocery and foodservice suppliers in 2022.
The site located next to Finlays Europe’s tea decaffeination facility in Hull will be able to handle a wide variety of packaging formats and would serve customers in Europe.
With the new facility, Finlays will also be able to supply bulk concentrate, ready-to-drink (RTD) cans, and bag-in-box through ambient and refrigerated supply chain networks.
According to Finlays, the UK market for cold brew coffee produces annual sales of around £56 million (US$77 million) to date.
The coffee and tea producer further notes that the sector is heading in the same direction as the US coffee market, where complex yearly brew coffee sales are worth £917 million (US$1,267 million).
“After explosive growth in the US, we believe we are about to see the same thing happen in Europe,” said Ian Bryson, managing director at Finlays Europe.
“Our new extraction facility is about helping beverage brand owners across foodservice, B2B and retail tap into the cold brew opportunity by allowing us to manufacture in a flexible range of formats and being able to develop bespoke solutions.”
Cold-brew is the fastest-growing beverage segment in Europe in RTD/Iced Coffee, while the average price paid for coffee in supermarkets has risen by 0.8%.
Consumers love the drink as the brewing process produces a smooth, sweet flavor profile that is less acidic than coffee brewed with hot water.
In making cold-brew, coffee beans are steeped in room-temperature water for several hours to produce a concentrate that can be used for various food and beverage applications.
By not using heat pressure, subtleties in coffee flavor can be extracted.
Finlays Europe says its new factory will produce cold brew coffee from beans extracted using a specialized filtered water process.
Unlike many other products, their cold brew coffee does contain soluble coffee, which is replicated consistently.
“Our plan in Europe is to emulate the successful model we have in the US to deliver the same premium quality, a pure cold brew that has taken the North American market by storm,” Bryson elaborates.
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