From flavored foam to ‘Friends,' how coffee creamer became a $5 billion category
Stroll down the dairy aisle of your local grocer, and you'll likely find a growing array of coffee creamers with so many flavors that it practically rivals sweets and sodas.
Once, hazelnut and French vanilla were the only creamer options. Those quaint days are long gone, with wacky flavors (Snickers, anyone?), sprayable foams and even TV-themed options like 'Friends' and 'The White Lotus,' hitting store shelves to satisfy America's seemingly endless thirst for creamers.
Nestlé-owned Coffee-mate and Danone-owned International Delight, the top two brands in the creamer category, are churning out new flavors in part to chase Generation Z customers inspired by TikTok and are increasingly making coffee at home.
During the height of Covid-19, International Delight 'saw consumers really wanting that coffee house experience at home' — which continued following the pandemic and now is being spurred by crazy coffee creations on the #CoffeeTok hashtag TikTok, according to Olivia Sanchez, senior vice president of creamers for Danone North America.
'We know that that personalized experience is very much authentic to this younger generation and that the first coffee is really critical,' she told CNN. 'They got very much inspired by combining different formats and flavors at home.'
Sales have soared to $5 billion in 2024, according to research firm Circana. Growth in the refrigerated coffee creamer category has jumped about 14% over the past two years, with International Delight's flavors and Chobani's oat-based creamers triggering a bulk of that growth.
To meet this increased customer demand, Nestlé recently opened a $675 million factory in Arizona specifically for production of creamers. Nestlé's creamer lineup has exploded, with new flavors from Starbucks, Natural Bliss and, of course, its flagship Coffee-mate brand.
International Delight has leaned hard into a novelty category for growth, especially with creamers built around popular TV shows and movies, including some nostalgic titles.
This approach began a few years ago, when International Delight put the 2003 film 'Elf' name on a line of sweet creamer flavors sold during the holidays, and they have since launched plenty more, including 'Friends' and 'Bridgerton' flavors. Most recently, the brand rolled out creamers with the Netflix dating show 'Love is Blind': wedding cake and chocolate-covered strawberry, naturally to fit with the romance theme.
Although licensed deals are often more commonly seen in other parts of the grocery store, Danone's Sanchez explained that the partnerships are working because they're being turned into 'unexpected creamers that are consumer-relevant and create buzz around our brand.'
In the eyes of Nate Rosen, a consumer packaged goods expert, the variety of coffee creamers has 'gone off the rails in the best way possible.' The growth of sponsored creamers is 'genius marketing,' he said.
He pointed to Coffee-mate's new 'The White Lotus' creamers as an example of this corporate synergy: A buyer might use the creamer in the morning, which reminds them to watch the show at night. ('The White Lotus' airs on HBO, which like CNN, is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery).
'While licensing deals aren't new in consumer products, there's something particularly clever about embedding these brands into a daily ritual,' Rosen, who writes the Express Checkout newsletter, told CNN. 'It's especially smart in the creamer aisle, where everything typically looks the same. A recognizable show or character immediately makes one stand out from the sea of basics.'
Creamers are even evolving past liquids, with foams from Danone and Nestlé making their way onto shelves. International Delight has five foams on sale including caramel macchiato and French vanilla flavors, and its parent company Danone has created a foams line with Silk and inked a partnership with Dunkin'.
Nestlé also bought an expensive TV ad during the Super Bowl to promote its new Coffee-mate cold foam creamer (with an arguably controversial dancing tongue).
'TikTok has unleashed that creative power within our consumers,' Sanchez said, pointing toward younger consumers making cold foam at home and posting videos on the #CoffeeTok hashtag. 'We wanted to give them that opportunity where it would give that barista at home experience and make it very easy to stay one cup ahead.'
As with the creamer craze overall, companies are launching these new foams in response to Gen Z inspired by people making cappuccino-like beverages at home and posting them on TikTok. Part of the appeal is the price: The cans of foam, which hover around $5.99 for 14 ounces, are generally cheaper than the price of one cappuccino at a coffee shop.
'People want that elevated coffee shop experience at home without spending $7 on a latte or investing in expensive equipment,' Rosen said. 'The rise of these specialty creamers and foams is really about democratizing that coffee shop experience and making it possible for anyone to create something that feels special in their own kitchen.'
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