6 Ways to Capitalize on the Cold Brew Craze and Increase Profits For Your Coffee Shop

TLDR

If you're in the coffee business, you know that cold brews are all the rage. The Global Cold Brew Coffee Industry Report indicates that the Cold-Brew Coffee market was worth $853.34 million in 2022. It's projected to grow at a rate of 25.13% and reach $3275.58 million by 2031. Capitalizing on this craze is a no-brainer way to drive new customers and increase profits. In this article, you'll discover 6 proven ways to make cold brew work for your coffee shop this year. From optimizing your mobile app to offering subscriptions, we'll explore practical steps to make cold brew your hottest profit center. With the right strategy, those frosty drinks can deliver some heat to your bottom line. 

The Cold Brew Coffee Craze

Cold brew coffee has taken off in the past few years. According to a survey by the National Coffee Association, cold brew consumption shot up by a whopping 580% from 2011 to 2016. Interestingly, it's noted that cold brew is especially popular among millennials and Gen Z. This upward trend presents an opportunity for coffee shops to enhance their profits.

Offer Cold Brew Subscriptions

Coffee shops can offer subscription services for cold brew coffee beans and concentrate. Loyal customers can sign up to receive regular shipments of cold brew coffee to make at home. This provides a steady source of revenue and keeps customers engaged with your brand.

Create Cold Brew-Infused Menu Items

Experiment with adding cold brew to other menu items like smoothies, iced teas, baked goods, and cocktails. Cold brew adds a robust, chocolatey flavor that pairs well with many foods and drinks. Come up with a few signature menu items to attract new customers.

Incentivize Cold Brew Sales

With your mobile app, offer first-purchase perks like a free cold brew when someone buys their first cold brew. Also, provide loyalty rewards and incentives for frequent cold brew purchases. Discounts, coupons, and giveaways are great ways to drive more cold brew sales.

Use Automated Espresso Machines to Streamline Production

Automated espresso machines can help efficiently produce cold brew coffee at scale. These commercial-grade machines are designed to handle high-volume production and minimize human effort. They can automatically handle steps like weighing, grinding, and tamping coffee beans as well as managing water temperature and pressure during the brewing process.

Reduce Labor Costs

By automating parts of the cold brew production process, coffee shops can reduce the number of employees needed to make cold brew coffee. This helps lower labor costs, which is one of the largest operational expenses for most coffee shops.

Ensure Consistency

Automated equipment also helps ensure consistency in the taste and quality of cold brew coffee. The machines strictly control variables like water temperature, coffee bean grind size, and brewing time. This results in a standardized product that meets customer expectations.

Increase Output

Commercial espresso machines are built to handle a high volume of coffee production. A fully automated setup can produce 5-10 times more cold brew coffee per hour compared to manual methods. This allows coffee shops to keep up with increasing demand and scale up operations.

Offer Subscriptions and Rewards

Provide Subscription Options

To capitalize on the cold brew trend, offer customers subscription options for cold brew coffees through your mobile app. This allows loyal customers to sign up for weekly or monthly deliveries of cold brew coffee concentrates or beans. Enhance your mobile app's user experience by offering diverse subscription tiers with different price points. Tailor these tiers based on product quantity. This ensures customers have flexible choices that match their preferences and needs

Offer Discounts and Perks

Offer discounts and perks for subscribers to increase the value of subscriptions. For example, 10% off all in-store purchases or a free drink on their birthday. Send subscribers exclusive promo codes for discounts on food, drinks, or merchandise. Provide early access to new cold brew flavors before releasing them to the general public. These added benefits encourage customer loyalty and word-of-mouth marketing.

Simplify the Subscription Experience

Keep the subscription signup and management process simple with the right mobile app. Allow customers to view available subscription plans, sign up, update payment methods, pause, and cancel them with just a few taps. The easier you make the experience, the more likely customers are to become long-term subscribers.

Train Baristas on Preparation and Recipe Innovation

To ensure your cold brew coffee program is profitable, invest in training your baristas. Educate them on proper cold brew preparation. Cold brewing requires precise measurements, grind size, and steep times to produce a quality concentrate. Baristas should understand how factors like the type of beans, roast level, and water temperature affect flavor. With the proper knowledge, your baristas can tweak recipes to create signature cold brew blends tailored to your customers’ tastes.

Tailoring Cold Brew to Tastes

Empower your baristas to experiment with flavor profiles. Once they master the basics, encourage them to craft unique cold brew recipes. By blending different beans and incorporating ingredients like cocoa nibs, cinnamon sticks, or citrus peels during steeping, they can create signature blends tailored to your customers’ preferences.

Social Media Promotion 

Suggest baristas promote new cold brew drinks on social media. Ask them to share photos and descriptions of their latest creations on your business's social media accounts. These posts will highlight your dedication to craft and innovation in the cold brew category. Customers see the passion your baristas put into developing new recipes and will be eager to sample them. These social shares may even inspire customers to visit for a drink they wouldn't normally order, leading to increased sales.

By investing in your baristas’ knowledge and skills, they become instrumental partners in growing your cold brew program. Their expertise in preparation, recipe development, and social promotion will ensure a quality product that keeps customers coming back for more.

Promote Your Cold Brews Through Social Media and in-store Marketing

Run Social Media Campaigns

Cold brew coffees are popular on social media, with many people sharing photos of their colorful and photogenic cold brew drinks. Run social media campaigns promoting your cold brew offerings to capitalize on this trend. Post photos and videos of your cold brew drinks, especially featuring seasonal or limited-time offerings. Run contests and giveaways for free cold brews to increase engagement. Offer specials and promotions exclusively for your social media followers to drive them into your store.

Cross-promote on Multiple Platforms

Do not limit your social media marketing to just one or two platforms. Actively maintain profiles on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest to reach the widest possible audience. Cross-promote your content across platforms by sharing the same photos, videos, and messaging on multiple networks. This helps reinforce your brand and its offerings in the minds of customers who follow you on more than one social network.

In-Store Signage and Displays

Use eye-catching signage, displays, and merchandising in your store to promote your cold brew coffees. Place menus, posters, and chalkboards featuring images of your cold brew drinks in prominent locations where customers will see them when they enter and order. Set up attractive displays showing cold brew bottles, kegs, and cups along with descriptions of the flavors and tasting notes. Offer free samples of your cold brews when possible so customers can taste for themselves how delicious they are.

For more ideas on promoting your cold brews on social media and in-store, check our page.

Final Thoughts

To summarize, cold brew is a hot trend that coffee shops should capitalize on this year. By optimizing your cold brew menu, analyzing data to set smart prices, promoting through social media, offering subscriptions via mobile apps, and training staff on the cold brew process, you can stand out from competitors and boost revenue. The key is using cold brew as a way to attract new customers and increase loyalty. With strategic planning and execution, your coffee shop can ride the cold brew wave to profitability in 2024.

‍