Liquid Rebellion: How Coffee is Invading New Beverage Territory
(Room 25 AB)
10 Apr 26
1:00 PM
-
1:45 PM
This session explores product innovation strategies for expanding beyond traditional coffee offerings into adjacent beverage categories and hybrid formats. Drawing from experience developing beverages for major coffee chains like Starbucks, we'll examine how to identify opportunities in coffee adjacencies—from cold brew protein shakes and mushroom coffee lattes to cross-category innovations like coffee-matcha fusion drinks, espresso tonics, and coffee bubble teas.
We'll dissect successful launches like oat milk cortados, adaptogenic coffee blends, and nitrogen-infused cold brews, while examining why certain innovations gained traction and others failed. Attendees will learn how global flavor trends—from Vietnamese egg coffee-inspired creations to horchata lattes and turmeric-spiced cold brews—can be adapted for different markets, and discover actionable strategies for prototyping and testing hybrid beverage concepts in their own operations.