Chobani moves out of yogurt into RTD coffee

As the New York-based Greek yogurt company continues to expand, its latest move is into the ready-to-drink coffee space with its new Chobani Coffee options, crafted with single-origin cold brew and feature Chobani's oat milks and dairy creamers.

These new coffees will appear nationwide beginning in January and will come in four flavors: Cold Brew Pure Black (no sugar, no dairy); Cold Brew with Sweet Creamer and Cold Brew with Vanilla (each made from farm-fresh milk); and Cold Brew with Oatmilk (made with gluten-free oats). Each 32-ounce carton, which contains between 85mg and 125mg of coffee per serving, will cost $4.49.

Founded in 2005, Chobani was originally a company dedicated to the reinvention of Greek yogurt. Although the company is moving into other spaces in food and beverage, it continues to apply its know-how in the yogurt category, launching yogurt with nut butter and plant-based yogurt alternatives, growing this branch of its business 12% in 2020, according to Nielsen data cited by the company. Beyond its yogurt portfolio, the company successfully expanded into oat milk and creamers, where it says its business grew by triple digits last year.

However, this launch of a RTD coffee is a big step for the company's portfolio and pits the yogurt maker against industry titans like PepsiCo with its Starbucks line, Nestlé that distributes Chameleon Cold Brew and Coca-Cola that sells bottled Dunkin’ Donuts coffee in the U.S. In addition to major players competing in the bottled coffee category, there are a plethora of smaller startups that are vying for a slice of the market, including High-Brew, Califia and La Colombe.

Still, the company remains confident that the growth in this category leaves plenty of room for a new entrant. In its release, Chobani cited Nielsen data that the ready-to-drink category has grown 17% year-over-year, nearly doubling in sales from four years ago, reaching $1.6 billion.

To help its new launch stand out, Chobani Coffee prominently displays the fact that its products contain only natural ingredients, no artificial flavors or sweeteners, and no preservatives. The coffee itself is brewed using single-origin 100% Arabica beans.

As Chobani moves toward functional beverages and better-for-you options, a RTD coffee seems like a logical step and an opportunity to further feature the company’s own creamers and milks as it looks to disrupt another category much as it did with yogurt a decade ago.