Lincoln & York’s move into cold coffee comes as the category sheds its summer-only image and becomes a year-round habit for a younger, social-media-shaped audience. The private label roaster said its new range is aimed at operators and retailers seeking to capitalise on demand for iced, ready-to-drink and concentrate formats, while research it commissioned suggests the strongest momentum sits with Millennials and Gen Z.

The findings point to a clear generational divide. Among coffee drinkers aged 25 to 34, 93% now consume cold coffee and 72% do so at least weekly, according to Lincoln & York. The company’s research also suggests social platforms are acting as a powerful discovery engine, with 53% of 18- to 24-year-olds saying online content influences their cold coffee choices and 10% saying it pushes them towards a particular brand. Around one in five said social media encourages them to be more adventurous with flavours, while 15% of 25- to 34-year-olds said the viral rise of iced matcha prompted them to try cold coffee.

That pattern fits wider market commentary from Mintel, which has described Millennials as a key driver of iced coffee growth and noted that younger consumers are more inclined to tailor their drinks to the occasion, choosing cold coffee in warmer months and hot coffee when temperatures fall. Other industry analysis has pointed to Gen Z’s preference for playful, sweet and novel flavour combinations, helping to explain why cold coffee is increasingly associated with experimentation rather than routine.

Lincoln & York said its new portfolio includes customisable ready-to-drink cans, a three-litre coffee concentrate and a 500ml bottled concentrate. Managing director Ian Bryson said the company wants to give foodservice operators and retailers the tools to ride fast-moving trends and, in some cases, create their own. That pitch comes at a time when cold coffee is being treated less as a seasonal add-on and more as a platform for innovation.

The research suggests the shift is broadening beyond age and flavour into consumption occasions. More than 40% of cold coffee drinkers said weather does not affect when they have it, and nearly 40% said they drink it in winter either regularly or occasionally. Almost 30% said they consume cold coffee all year, rising to nearly 40% among 18- to 24-year-olds. That helps explain why the category is gaining traction both in cafés and in retail, where 62% of respondents said they had bought an RTD, concentrate or cold coffee product in a supermarket over the previous three months.

Price points also appear to support the trend. More than 40% of cold coffee drinkers said they enjoy the drink in cafés or coffee shops, and half said they would pay between £3 and £4 for one. For Lincoln & York, the opportunity lies in serving a market that now seems to reward variety, convenience and shareable novelty in equal measure.

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