Starbucks and Nestlé launch Coffee Craft concentrate for cold brew growth

Starbucks and Nestlé just put another stake in the cold coffee market with Starbucks Coffee Craft, a premium concentrate built around high-quality arabica beans and aimed squarely at the at-home iced drinker. The launch comes in two flavors, Rich Black and Signature Caramel, and it starts in Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom in 2026 before moving into Europe and Asia in 2027.

This is not a small format tweak. It is a clear bet that cold coffee is now the bigger growth fight, not a side hustle for warm-weather sales. Starbucks said in February that roughly two-thirds of the beverages sold in its U.S. company-operated coffeehouses are cold, while cold drinks account for roughly 60% of Starbucks international beverage sales. Nestlé is reading the same signal and treating Coffee Craft as a way to turn Starbucks flavor into a shelf-stable habit that works with water, milk or plant-based alternatives. The company says the concentrate can be used to make iced americanos and iced caramel macchiatos with a simple pour.

The alliance behind it has been building toward this for years. The Global Coffee Alliance, formed in 2018, gave Nestlé perpetual global rights to market Starbucks consumer packaged goods and foodservice products outside Starbucks coffee shops, excluding ready-to-drink products and in-store sales. By 2023, Nestlé said Starbucks-branded premium products were available in nearly 80 markets and more than 14 billion cups were being brewed at home and served through foodservice channels. Nestlé also said the Starbucks business generated USD 1.6 billion in incremental sales in 2022, a reminder that this partnership is already a serious profit engine, not a branding exercise.

Coffee Craft fits neatly into the line Nestlé and Starbucks have already been drawing. The companies have launched Starbucks capsules for Nespresso and Nescafé Dolce Gusto, premium instant coffee, K-Cup pods, creamers and, in the United States in 2024, Starbucks Iced Coffee Blends and multi-serve cold brew concentrates. Nestlé’s work on premium soluble cold coffee has also included a freeze-drying technique first used in Nescafé Iced Blend in Japan, which shows how much technical effort is going into making cold coffee taste premium without turning it into a barista-only ritual.

The larger message is hard to miss: cold coffee is now a battleground for fridge space, pantry space and brand loyalty. Nestlé says the segment is growing fast, with some forecasts putting it above USD four billion by 2030. For Starbucks and Nestlé, that is the opening they want, and Coffee Craft is their latest move to own it.