With the popularity of fruit and vegetable tea, coffee has also begun to "add vegetables"!

Ancient Tea,Tims、M Stand, Jue Thirst and other brands, including kale, tomato, beetroot, etc., are integrated into coffee, creating new selling points such as "health" and "weight loss", causing consumers to frantically check in and post pictures.

The new round of traffic in the coffee circle is "vegetable coffee"?

A new trend in beverages

Ancient Tea,TimsAdd vegetables to coffee

Who would have thought that after experiencing the involution of tea coffee, fruit coffee, and wine coffee, the next innovation direction of coffee is to add vegetables!

Since the beginning of this year, Gu Ming,Tims、M StandBrands such as Jue Thirst have successively launched fruit and vegetable coffee, setting off a wave of "vegetable coffee" on social platforms.

The relevant notes on Xiaohongshu have broken through4萬條，抖音話題播放量超百萬次。網友們一邊調侃“咖啡的盡頭是菜市場”，一邊忍不住下單嘗鮮。

in order to3month20For example, Japan's Hiko-Ming launched the "Slimming Fruit and Vegetable American", which adds freshly squeezed juice of kale, yellow lemon, pineapple and apple, and sells for a single cup18Yuan, netizens called "opening the door to a new world".

"I thought it was dark cuisine, but the more I drank it, the more I got better", "The coffee is not strong but unexpectedly refreshing" and other comments were swiped on social platforms.

TimsTianhao Coffee has a new "Provencal Tomato American", and its rich tomato flavor has aroused polar reviews. Some netizens praised it as a "dream coffee", and some people complained that "it feels like drinking out of the farmer's orchard".

Around New Year's DayThe beet latte launched by M Stand has become a hit with its pink color.

The picture comes from Xiaohongshu blogger @Famous milk tea taster, authorized

Jue Thirst Coffee recently launched Apple Carrot Sparkling Coffee, named "Jue Bu Vegetable Sparkling Coffee", which is full of creativity and middle two senses, and is said to be inspired by "Nezha in the Sea".

In fact, this wave of "vegetable coffee" has long been hinted at. Back last year12In January, Jue Thirst has launched products such as fruit and vegetable light latte, fruit and vegetable light American, fruit and vegetable bubble coffee, etc., which have sparked a lot of discussions on social platforms.

It's worth noting that the café isn't unique to Japan – it's not uniqueAGFCoffee has also previously launched freeze-dried carrot coffee.

From raw coconut lattes to sauce-flavored lattes, and now fruit and vegetable coffee, healthier combinations of ingredients add a healthy attribute to coffee in addition to refreshing the mind.

In the context of more and more healthy drinks, can "Cai Coffee" replicate the popular path of fruit and vegetable tea? What do the major brands do?

Let consumers drink the top "vegetable coffee"

How are they all done?

When "vegetables."+When the combination of "coffee" appeared on the menu, many consumers' first reaction was: "Can this taste good" and "It takes courage to take the first sip".

The person in charge of R&D at a coffee chain told me with a smile: "Don't talk about consumers, our colleagues shook their heads when we tried it internally. ”

But what is surprising is that the seemingly "dark cuisine" has made more and more consumers "drink it".

What are brands doing right?

The picture comes from Xiaohongshu blogger @Brother Alphabet's sister fan~., has been authorized

1、從“大眾蔬菜”切入，既熟悉又驚喜

At present, the "vegetable coffee" promoted by coffee brands mainly focuses on two types of vegetable raw materials:

One is the high-recognizable traditional vegetables, such as carrots, tomatoes, etc. These ingredients are popular and everyday, and consumers are familiar with their taste.

The other category is "super plants" such as kale and beetroot. This kind of ingredient has completed market education in the consumption boom of fruit and vegetable tea.

"Switching these ingredients to coffee products, we found that consumer acceptance was much higher than expected," revealed the product owner of a brand, mainly because the flavor is familiar and the freshness of the collision with coffee.

"What consumers want is not exactly curiosity, but reasonable innovation," said the owner of a coffee shop in Chengdu, "Everyday vegetables such as celery and cucumber, which are highly accepted by the public, can also have a surprising flavor collision with coffee." ”

2. It is easy to put fruits and vegetables into tea, and it needs to be balanced with sweet and sour feelings when entering coffee

"Pure vegetable juice is prone to earthy smell, and compound fruit can effectively improve palatability," said a R&D person.

Fruit acts as a natural taste blender, neutralizing the earthy and astringent taste of vegetables, as well as creating a surprising aroma layer.

Gu Ming's "Weight Loss, Fruit and Vegetable American" wraps the greenness of kale with the sweetness and sourness of yellow lemon, pineapple and apple;M StandThe beet latte dissolves the earthy taste of beetroot with the fragrance of apples. The thirsty "Jue Bu Vegetable Sparkling Coffee" combines the sweet flavor of carrots and apples, and the tail rhyme has a coffee aroma and clear layers.

The picture comes from Xiaohongshu blogger @多多乐, authorized

But compared to the more inclusive tea, the integration of coffee and fruits and vegetables is obviously more challenging.

"The aroma of coffee is not as obvious as that of tea, and the taste of fruits and vegetables is too strong and it is easy to turn into fruit juice drinks," said Lu Yungang, the owner of 5% Coffee, adding that the key to research and development is to balance the taste of fruits and vegetables and coffee, and to explore whether the two can produce new flavors.

"Fruits and vegetables with unique flavors, high aroma and sweet and sour sensation are more suitable for blending with coffee and highlighting the characteristics of coffee."

Jiao Xin, the head of R&D of Jue Thirst Coffee, gave a similar view, coffee is more picky of vegetables, and a single flavor of raw materials often breaks the balance between the two.

In conclusion, tea emphasizes complementary flavors, while coffee focuses more on flavor harmony.

Image sourced from Xiaohongshu blogger @Jasmine? Latte, authorized

3Binding the "light concept" to highlight the value of health

When promoting fruit and vegetable coffee, brands invariably hit the concept of "light".

Gu Ming directly implanted "weight loss" into the product nameand enhance health attributes from raw materials to processes. Jue Thirst Coffee continues to output the core selling points of "lightness" and "low calorie" through product names such as "fruit and vegetable light latte" and "fruit and vegetable light American".

TimsThe relevant person in charge of Tianhao Coffee said: "Integrating fruit and vegetable elements into coffee can meet consumers' pursuit of healthy drinks. ”

Its new product, "Provencal Tomato American", emphasizes "calories per cup≈ in its promotion100card, less than the calorie of an apple", accurately poking at the pain points of office workers and fitness people.

As many netizens ridiculed, "Workers are working today."KPI: Caffeine and dietary fiber meet the target at the same time". Nowadays, a cup of coffee is no longer just a refreshing "cow and horse drink", but also a healthy lifestyle.

As the leading brands follow up with fruit and vegetable coffee, a key question also arises: how far can this product go, and will it be the next traffic outlet for coffee?

Fruit and vegetable coffee will be

Next traffic password?

There is no doubt that the emergence of fruit and vegetable coffee has brought new life to the industry.

First of all, it continues the popularity of fruit and vegetable tea, which aims at healthy consumption and functional needs, and has topic popularity or brings traffic.

The picture comes from Xiaohongshu blogger @ Princess Liyou, @喵喵, authorized

Secondly, compared with traditional fruit coffee, it further broadens the flavor combination and nutritional dimension by introducing vegetable elements, providing a differentiated breakthrough for the highly homogeneous coffee market. 

"There are many possibilities for the development of specialty coffees, and fruits, spices and even vegetables can be a source of inspiration," says Lu Yungang, owner of 5% Coffee.

He introduced that as early as a few years ago, boutique cafes have explored creative coffees such as cucumber sparkling American, perilla special blend, etc. "With consumers looking for healthy drinks and unique flavors, fruit and vegetable coffee has the potential to become a new trend."

However, to transform this innovation from a hotspot to a long-selling category, brands still need to overcome multiple obstacles, such as supply chain optimization, flavor balance, and consumption habit cultivation.

Lu Yungang said: Vegetables are also more likely to have a less delicious root taste, some fruits are directly juiced too high, many fruits and vegetables can not be juiced directly, according to the needs of research and development, may require more troublesome and complex maceration, slow cooking, distillation and other processes to extract flavor.

Just like when tea coffee and fruit coffee first appeared, fruit and vegetable coffee seems to be still in the wait-and-see stage of the market.

Can an innovative hit become a long-selling category? The key is whether the brand can continue to create truly popular products and continue to expand the market demand for fruit and vegetable coffee.

Time will give the fairest answer, we might as well let the bullets fly a little longer.