“[The new brands] will be in addition to our current product line: our Signature Blend, and our South East Asia Blend,” Hatch’s CEO, Alfonso Tupaz told BeverageDaily.
New products
There is a growing market for cold-brewed coffee, said Tupaz. Hatch’s products are designed for the increasing demand for specialty and craft coffee.
“We don't add any preservatives or sweeteners, and make our cold brew from scratch, even roasting our coffee in-house,” he said. “We are definitely a craft producer.”
Priced at C$3.95 ($2.99), the new cold brew coffee will be available at most retail stores, as well as hotels, restaurants and cafés across Canada, said Tupaz. In the meantime, Hatch is also developing its online sales channel.
So far, Tupaz’s business has been operating for two years, and the company tries to embrace the opportunities of the infant cold brew coffee market in Canada.
“You might find up to 10 different cold brews in a given Whole Foods in the US,” said Tupaz. “However, there is zero, or few regional producers in Canada.”
Single origin creates unique flavor
Hatch’s Ethiopian Natural coffee has a fruity side, whereas the Colombian coffee has caramel notes, according to Tupaz.
“There are flavor nuances by the origin of the coffee. There is a lot behind a cup of coffee - the bean type and origin, how it was processed at the farm level, how it's roasted, and how it's brewed,” he said. “Just these two ingredients can produce vastly different coffees, and we're putting that into a bottle.”
However, cold-brewed coffee may naturally taste different from hot-brewed due to different types of processing, Tupaz pointed out. Unlike when coffee is brewed hot, which could extract acidity from the coffee, cold brewing extracts 70% less acidity.
“Cold brew doesn't have that same 'acidic' taste profile that hot coffee has. The benefit, however, is that we don't get the kind of bitterness.”
Besides creating distinguishable coffee flavors, being single origin also allows Hatch to provide direct feedback to its farm-level partners, Tupaz added. “We are helping these smaller farmers grow sustainably and helping them navigate their organic certifications.”
Nitro cold brew coffee is trending
Liquid coffee and tea fetch upwards of 13% annual growth, according to Tupaz, and with more awareness on cold brew globally, there will be a significant growth period over the next five years.
At the moment, nitro cold-brewed coffee is trending, even though nitrogen takes away from the nuances of the coffee itself, said Tupaz.
“But it does create an interesting mouth feel, which excites people.”