Given the now-recognized phenomenon that snacks are meals to a lot of folks, and I’d say that those operating coffee operations are in a sweet spot right now. That’s because today’s coffee is an addiction for some and a snack for others. Maybe an addictive snack.
I’ve watched what has happened with coffee limited-time offers in the past year, and it is apparent that operators are investing R&D in candy-like coffee. Take McDonald’s McCafé coffee LTOs for instance. In March, it came out with Turtle Macchiato (chocolate, caramel and hazelnut flavors blended with milk and espresso, topped with a chocolate drizzle) and Iced Turtle Coffee (Iced coffee with chocolate, caramel and hazelnut flavors and a touch of cream). Pure snack, and pure sweet coffee, with the turtle moniker so no one misses the candy connection.
In my opinion… what took so long? My first job as a high schooler was at a donut shop. In the back, if the chocolate we used to ice the chocolate donuts was too thick, we poured hot coffee into it and stirred to revive. Coffee and chocolate are so similar that there is no off-putting flavor when combined. Now decades later, coffee operators are onto it in a marketable way (what we did in the back at the donut shop decades ago was our little secret).
More examples, in January, Caribou Coffee offered Cabin Bar Mocha—butterscotch melted into
steamed milk and combined with espresso and peanut butter flavor, topped with chocolate whipped cream and chocolate chips. In March, Starbucks reached away from chocolate to other confections with its creative Crystal Ball Frappuccino LTO— “a crème-based Frappuccino infused with peach flavor and turquoise sparkles for a marbling effect. The magic happens when the peach-flavored whipped cream is sprinkled with one of three colored candy gems, each color signifying a different fortune in vivid blue, green, and purple.”
Now that the door has opened to combining candy and coffee, I think that in the spirit of loading, “freak coffee” is next. Freak shakes are already a trending thing. The examples above show we are almost there with coffee. Surely someone is taking note of what Checkers is doing with shakes. The chain features a Loaded Milkshake section. Thinking of their innovation, I expect to see coffee operators partnering with candy companies to come up with the next wave of hot and iced coffee snack/dessert LTOs. I’ll finish with Checkers’ recent loaded shake addition and ask… why can’t coffee do this?
Of its Caramel Cheesecake Crunch Made with Twix® Loaded Milkshake, Checkers declares on its menu: “a dialed-up version of our milkshakes made with vanilla milkshake blended with soft serve, rich caramel sauce, and crushed Twix® candy pieces. It’s then topped with Philadelphia® cheesecake filling and more Twix® candy pieces. Then, it’s all topped off with whipped cream and a cherry. Upgrade your Classic Milkshake to the new Caramel Cheesecake Crunch Made with Twix® Loaded Milkshake only at Checkers & Rally’s!”
Tell me what you think.
Jody
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