Alongside cocoa and petroleum, coffee is one of the top three most traded commodities in the global economy. 73% of Americans drink coffee every day, and the market keeps growing – according to Statista, the global coffee market is worth US$93.4 billion in 2024, and it’s estimated to grow to over US$108.4 billion by 2029.
It’s not surprising that brands are constantly on the lookout for ways to capture a bigger share of the booming coffee market, and the Ready-to-Drink segment is ripe for the picking – the category is estimated to grow by 5.4% a year through 2028 driven by an ever-increasing consumer demand for on-the-go coffee products.
It’s against this backdrop that Nestlé has made its most recent announcement: the launch of its first RTD offering under the Nespresso flagship. The Nespresso Master Origins Columbia Ready to Drink Coffee is an expansion of the brand’s new honey range, launched in August, and comes sweetened with rare Coffee Blossom Honey, harvested from the very same plants used to make the coffee itself. The product will be available through select Nespresso Boutiques, as well as online or in the mobile app from October the second.
Canned Coffee: From Japan’s Streets to Nestlé’s Latest Innovation
Ready-To-Drink coffee found its origins in Japan in the ’60s and ’70s, with the first canned coffee credited to the Ueshima Coffee Company in 1965. The product appealed strongly to Japanese commuter culture, giving urban workers a much-needed boost on the go. Coffee in a can found quick success in Japanese city centers, and today, canned coffee remains deeply entrenched in Japanese daily life, with hundreds of variations of the product available in convenience stores and street-side vending machines, in both cold and hot options.
The concept started to take root in the West in the 2000s, with major brands like Starbucks launching their versions of RTD coffee drinks. Today, the global canned coffee market is estimated to be worth over US$14.6 billion.
A Coffee Legacy: Nestlé’s Long History of Innovation
Nestlé has long been lauded as a pioneer in the coffee space. In 1938, the Brazilian government approached Nestlé with a problem. They had a major coffee surplus and recommended that Nestle produce a coffee product that would help reduce the waste from Brazil’s coffee harvests. Seven years (and a lot of science) later, NESCAFÉ® was born, quickly becoming one of the most popular coffee products in the world.
In 1986, Nestlé introduced the Nespresso coffee pod system, which played a huge part in the rise of the coffee capsule industry. Today, over 14 billion Nespresso capsules are sold every year, with more than 400 Nespressos drunk every second.
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Looking ahead, Nestlé is set to bring even more innovation to foodservice. In September 2025, Nestlé Professional Solutions will launch TOMA™ Empanadas in partnership with Sofía Vergara and her son, Manolo Gonzalez Vergara. These ready-to-heat empanadas will offer bold, authentic Latin flavors—like Beef with tomatoes, olives, and paprika, and Chicken in a tomatillo, jalapeño, cilantro, and garlic Salsa Verde—giving operators an easy way to add chef-approved, grab-and-go options to their menus. Learn more about TOMA Empanadas here.
