Cold coffee turns year-round category as Nestle, HUL, Sleepy Owl chase Gen Z RTD boom
Once a summer indulgence, cold coffee is fast becoming a 12-month category in India. Sleepy Owl now derives 30% of sales from RTD cold coffee growing at 60-70% CAGR, while quick commerce on Zepto and Flipkart Minutes compresses the winter dip to 20%. Nestle, HUL's Bru and Tata Starbucks are expanding portfolios as sugar-free demand jumps 8x.
What happened
Nestle India · Cold coffee is emerging as a fast-growing year-round category in India, with Nestle, HUL's Bru, Tata Starbucks and D2C brand Sleepy Owl expanding
Key facts
- 30% of Sleepy Owl sales
- 60-70% CAGR
- winter dip narrowed from 60-70% to 20%
- 2x cold coffee consumption Jan-Mar
- 5x by May
- 4.6x search growth
- 8x sugar-free demand
- 5x hazelnut/chocolate
Why this matters
Sugar-free demand growing 8x reframes the M&A thesis: target functional or low-sugar RTD coffee brands with clean-label IP rather than legacy cold coffee SKUs that incumbents can replicate in-house.