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Flavored Syrups Sweeten World Cups© By Suzanne J. Brown 1997
"Kaffitar, a specialty roasting company headquartered in Reykajavik, Iceland, is beginning to introduce the concept of sweet coffee drinks to Icelanders who do not traditionally like sweet coffee. In New Zealand, customers are sampling a variety of flavored espresso based drinks in Robert Harris coffee shops, the retail division of Cerebos Gregg's. South of the border, in the vicinity of Mexico City, Lilian's Coffees are using syrups in several size bottles in coffee drinks, both cold and hot, on pancakes, ice-cream and in gift baskets. To the north, Canadians keep coming back for more "Frozen Timtations", one of Timothy's World Coffee signature drinks. And, in the U.S., generation X'ers, Yuppies, Babyboomers and Senior Citizens are visiting Caribou coffeehouses for a choice of Wild Drinks, signature creations using a variety of syrup flavors. Melitta is selling their private label syrups directly to consumers through the internet, mail order catalog and their Coffee World retail shops as well as wholesale and foodservice divisions. With increasing global interest in flavored syrups, every segment of the coffee industry has an opportunity to benefit: flavor manufacturers, syrup companies, roasters, retailers and consumers. Same is true for tea and confection industries. Curious as to what influences affect the growth and use of flavored syrup, we interviewed industry experts around the world to give us a global perspective. Diane Barrera, Technical Director, Borthwicks Flavors USA, notes the following trends. Flavored syrups target the Indulgence Trend. Perceived as a luxury or entertaining product, syrups are used for special beverages and make clever gift items by using different sizes in baskets or sampler packs. They're convenient to pair with other retail items too, shared Barrera, such as a cookbook, mug, coffee, tea and confections. In Massachusetts and other northeastern states, Barrera reports that school children may select milk in their cafeteria that has been flavored with coffee syrup. Last summer, Barrera saw even more evidence of the flavored syrup popularity when Dunkin Donuts introduced their coffee "coolatta". This slushy drink gives consumers in mass markets an awareness of new beverages made with flavored syrups. Barrera suggests retailers need to constantly be creative with drinks. The success experienced by "coolatta" will be reflected in new flavors added to the slushy. "Do the thinking for consumers", she advises. There are more opportunities for discovery, Barrera continued, because syrups have an extended shelf life. One way to plan for the future is to look at the past. Flavored syrups follow the trend of flavored coffees, notes Barrera. Stick with the traditional flavors. Top sellers are: Raspberry, Chocolate, Vanilla, Hazelnut, Irish Cream and Amaretto. Companies have introduced faddish flavors like Tiramisu and Snickers, but they won't last, said Barrera. William Palmer, Vice President and Sales Manager, Flavor & Fragrance Specialties, concurs with Barrera concerning syrups now going mainstream. He pointed out that Dunkin Donuts, with 4,000 locations across the U.S., will definitely increase awareness of flavored syrup drinks. The Olive Garden, says Palmer, is another mainstream outlet that is offering flavored syrups in their restaurant chains, making Italian sodas and flavored brewed iced tea drinks. "Unfortunately, we're still a step away from statistical information on how large this category is", says Palmer, "because syrups are sold in so many different outlets, from foodservice to supermarkets as well as coffee stores and cafes. "Like the increase of brand named coffees lining the supermarket shelves, consumers are finding a selection of syrups to go with their variety of whole beans. For example, Millstone markets DaVinci syrups and Giant Eagle, a supermarket chain in Pittsburgh sells a private label line of coffees and syrups under the name, "Cafe Sonata". Veteran coffee expert, Robert Dattala, Director of Coffee & Tea, Caribou Coffee is involved in helping to develop beverages for all age customers. Caribou Coffee, which now operates approximately 105 stores in six states, is a roaster/retailer headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Caribou does not sell flavored coffee beans; all flavored drinks are made from syrups. Dattala expressed that most of the education about flavored syrups is to explain their benefits in comparison to flavored beans. One obvious benefit is syrup's versatility; one flavor can be used in so many types of beverages. Too, customers experience coffees in a combination of strengths and flavors they determine, Dattala pointed out. With Caribou's customers being approximately 60% women, the company has created a variety of beverages that target children, such as the Wild Drinks. Their appetizing menu appeals to moms looing for an interesting destination to treat the carpool after school. Caribou's comfy coffeehouses are kid friendly and welcome a family, neighborhood atmosphere. The menu is diverse; from freshly baked desserts and muffins, to seasonal beverages. An example of the appealing menu is: Lite White Berry - Raspberry, blueberry or cherry with steamed white cocoa and espresso only 2 grams of fat!). Many moms (and dads) may opt for lower fat beverages while a child might select this Wild One, "Caramel High Rise- Six layers of goodies that will make your sweet tooth ache!"And, for the even smaller customer (in spirit, if not size), there is a "Cocoa Monster - Cocoa, whipped cream, cookie crumbles and a monster on top!" For a gift item, Dattala reports Caribou sells a package of six bottles of flavored syrups in an attractive wooden box. Popular boxed flavors include vanilla, raspberry, Irish cream, hazelnut, caramel and almond. Caribou uses a private label syrup to emphasize their brand name. All drinks are made from the ten flavors, with the top five being: vanilla, hazelnut, caramel, raspberry and mint. Their most popular drink is the vanilla latte. At Melitta USA headquarters in Clearwater, Florida, Barbara Hausner, Public Relations Manager, is constantly creating new recipes and gift items to market their private label syrups. With Melitta's Coffee World shops in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida, Hausner reports the markets very. "Customers visiting our downtown Philadelphia store work in the vicinity surrounding that location. They come in early in the morning, order their favorite latte and muffin and take it to their desk." In Florida, our shops are located in high tourist areas so they're looking not only for a cool beverage, but a clever souvenir to take home. That's why syrups work so well packaged with our mugs, grinders, coffeemakers and filter paper, she added."Melitta also sells directly to consumers through their coffee club. "Our syrups are selling quite well directly to consumers through our Bean Counters Club", she reported. Both the 750 ml and 250 ml size sell well, alone or packaged with other gift items. In our Coffee World retail stores, our drink menu is quite extensive in both cold, slushy and hot beverages using flavored syrups. Our most popular has been a Melitta latte royale, which is made of espresso, steamed milk, chocolate, vanilla syrup and whipped cream. We do alot of sample and create our own recipes, she continued. Melitta chose a private label syrup to add to their product mix for a total promotional effort in marketing their CoffeePerfection program. At Timothy's World Coffee, headquartered in Toronto, Bill Herne, Director of Coffee Quality, expresses the evolvement of this niche at his company. A decade ago, Herne recalls, Timothy's World Coffee first introduced a selection of flavored syrups to a somewhat limited acceptance. After experimenting and selling several different brands over the years, they discovered their customers were very loyal to the flavored coffees that Timothy's roasted and did not quickly adapt to a high caloric variation. When they opened the first Timothy's espresso bar, recipes for flavored Italian Sodas and others were tested and re-tested with many brands and flavors. Timothy's discovered that certain flavored syrups work exceptionally well with espresso and its derivative beverages, steamed milk and sodas. They also discovered that flavored coffee brews a superior filter brewed beverage. During taste tests in the coffee lab, relates Herne, Timothy brewed espresso using flavored coffee, which yielded unacceptable beverages. The drinks were equally disappointing when flavored syrups were added to filter brewed coffee. Customer response clearly supported their findings from lab taste tests: espresso brewing method worked well with syrup flavors while flavored coffee brewed best with the filter method. Timothy concluded there were two definite markets: one for flavored syrups and another for flavored coffee beans. As the category started to heat up, Timothy's changed their approach to the flavored syrup concept. They realized that simply suggesting them as add-on sales of flavor shots to espresso based drinks would not evolve quickly beyond a micro-niche of their business. Consequently, they consolidated their flavored syrup selection to only the top sellers, because the hazelnut cappuccinos, and vanilla lattes clearly accounted for virtually all of the flavor shot sales. Simultaneously, Herne adds, the industry leader introduced metering pumps to their baristas to both control food costs and most importantly to improve the beverage presentation to a consistent high quality. Total shot sales increased dramatically with the attention concentrated on the flavors that complement coffee best. Having observed the success for a few specialty coffee merchants in other markets, they developed the flavored iced latte and granita style flavored "Frozen Timtation"beverages. These new drinks boosted sales in their cold beverage category with both increased transactions and high average tickets. They also keep the attention on Timothy's coffee and the beverages taste great because they are prepared with the best ingredients. Timothy's carries only five S.K.U.'s of flavored syrups because they determined a wider selection only diffused the impact. The "interesting" flavors could stimulate a customer to an initial purchase, but rarely succeed in capturing a "loyal" customer. Their total volume increased when limiting the selection to the best sellers. Timothy's carries the following Monin syrups: Hazelnut, Vanilla, Caramel Almond/Amaretto and Raspberry. They also use a thick chocolate syrup from Mont Blanc as an ingredient in some beverages. They use flavored syrups to create unique recipes for signature drinks and for promotional offers. This allows Timothy's product differentiation and auxiliary product to complement their custom roasted coffee. When selecting a syrup manufacturer, Timothy's considered supporting materials, delivery, packaging and pricing. While Monin does provide promotional support, Herne says Timothy's creates most of their POP material in-house. With retail locations throughout Canada in Ontario and Quebec; and in Philadelphia, Washington DC, Boston and New York, Timothy's World Coffee includes espresso bars and WorldNewsCafes to several diverse markets. Due to their diverse markets, Timothy's is constantly refining and taste testing recipes in their labs. Recipes, whether a standard drink or new beverage concept have to be produced with geographic location in mind and consistency maintenance among baristas. Consistency includes recipe specifications, portion uniformity, several different cup sizes, complete with garnishes. Product consistency delivers a great product and builds customer loyalty, says Herne. Over the past two years, flavored cappuccinos and lattes have substantially increased in percentage, but the real sales successes are in the cold beverage category, observed Herne. In 1996, Timothy's introduced a flavored version of the popular "Timothy's Ice Breaker" iced cappuccino. Healthy sales encouraged them to develop a flavored "granita" version for their 1997 summer promotion, and the praline flavor "Frozen Timtation" was an even bigger hit. Iced and frozen beverages have been growth products since Timothy's converted from beverage mixes to fresh ingredients (including freshly brewed espresso), and the flavor enhanced beverages delivered even more excitement and high average tickets. Timothy's has experienced a steady increase in syrup popularity, having built a stable foundation of offering through trial and error. Even with several years of steady growth, flavored syrups are still a niche market with plenty of room for continued growth. These beverages, said Herne, show little sign of slowing down as more coffee "novices" are investigating specialty coffee . Flavored drinks make a gentle first step into the coffee world. In Scandinavia, where coffee drinkers in Finland and Sweden continue to vie for first place among the most cups drunk per capita, Robert's Coffee helps enable the quest. Founded in Finland a decade ago, Robert Paulig, who is a member of a very well known coffee family with over 200 years of tradition in coffee, established Robert's Coffee. A specialty roaster with its own branded products, Robert's Coffee, headquartered in Helsinki, is located in coffee shops and specialty stores throughout Scandinavia, Belgium, Switzerland, Estonia and Russia. Known for introducing cardamom as a flavoring to coffee, today's specialty drink is the Hunter, with chocolate and butter rum as the focus ingredient. As the first coffee company to introduce syrups to their market, Robert's tested syrups and created fantasy names for their drinks such as Orange Kiss, Oriental Latte and Mintflirt. They found that creating these drinks clearly differentiated their products, putting them at the leading edge of their market. Robert's Coffee selected Da Vinci syrups because of their customer service, reliable deliveries and good marketing material (recipes, leaflets, advertising slicks, table tents and shirts). Paula Pohjakallio reports the top five syrups they use and sell are hazelnut, Irish cream, Vanilla, Cinnamon and Orange. Around the globe, tourists visiting any Robert Harris coffee shop in New Zealand during the America's Cup will likely find a specialty beverage to commemorate that event. Nic McClean, Marketing Manager for Robert Harris, a division of Cerebos Gregg's, one of the drinks might possibly be a "Double Tall Skinny Hazelnut No Fun Latte", which really means a "Double Shot Decafe Latte with lowfat milk and Hazelnut syrup in a large cup". McClean reports the key to their successful program is through product sampling. Also using Da Vinci syrups, the five top flavors offered by Robert Harris are: hazelnut, chocolate, chocolate mint, vanilla and Irish cream. While drinks using flavored syrups are growing in popularity, McClean reports that cappuccino and lattes without flavoring are still the most popular . There are those at the other extreme, he added, that also drink short blacks straight shots). Cerebos Gregg's, the largest producer of coffee in New Zealand, sells to supermarkets. Its subsidiary, Robert Harris, is a coffee brand, which is sold in 35 franchised shops under that name, as well as in foodservice outlets and cafes.
Suzanne J. Brown is president/owner of SJB Associates, a marketing consulting business based in Atlanta, Georgia. She specializes in projects for the coffee/tea industry, and can be reached at Tel: (770)988-8811; Fax: (770)988-0087, email: brownsuz@woldnet.att.net . |
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