Initial consultation
Understand your audience, channel and commercial goals to identify the right cold coffee route.
White-label Cold Coffee Concentrate
Bring cold coffee products to market through the format that fits your channel, audience and commercial goals.
Lincoln & York’s cold coffee offer spans bottled concentrate and RTD canned coffee, giving brands, retailers and operators more than one route into a growing category.
Bring cold coffee products to market through the format that fits your channel, audience and commercial goals.
Lincoln & York’s cold coffee offer spans bag-in-box concentrate, bottled concentrate and RTD canned coffee, giving brands, retailers and operators more than one route into a growing category.
Cold coffee is becoming a more meaningful opportunity across both retail and hospitality. Demand is broadening, seasonality is narrowing, and the category now supports more than one route to market.
Cold coffee is seeing stronger demand as consumer habits shift. The category is growing not just through existing coffee drinkers changing format, but through new consumers entering the space as well.
What was once seen as more summer-led is becoming increasingly year-round. As iced coffee and ready-to-drink formats become more familiar, demand is becoming less tied to weather alone.
From coffee concentrate in hospitality to RTD canned coffee in retail, cold coffee is growing across multiple channels. That creates more opportunities for brands to build propositions around different routes to market.
Cold coffee is growing because consumer habits are changing. It fits more naturally into on-the-go, chilled and at-home occasions, and it has strong appeal among younger audiences.
Latest data shows iced coffee at sales at £357m in the latest 52 weeks, up 31% versus two years ago, with a quarter of value growth coming from new consumers. The same material also shows iced coffee is now the most popular coffee order for UK consumers under 25.
What’s driving the shift?
Convenience is a big part of the answer. Cold coffee formats make it easier to build coffee into different moments of the day, whether that means grab-and-go consumption, at-home preparation or faster service in hospitality.
As familiarity grows, the category is becoming less of a niche add-on and more of a practical commercial opportunity.
Lincoln & York’s cold coffee offer spans two formats, each suited to different channels and commercial needs.
Lincoln & York’s cold coffee offer spans three formats, each suited to different channels and commercial needs.
Bag-in-box cold brew concentrate is best suited to hospitality, foodservice and out-of-home. It supports faster service, more consistent drinks and better control over portions and waste.
With a 3L format, simple tap dispense and 1:4 dilution, it gives operators a practical way to serve iced drinks quickly and reliably. It can also be used across a wider drinks menu, including coffee cocktails.
The format is designed to help teams deliver:
Approved descriptors include a 100% Arabica blend and a smooth, chocolatey profile.
Bottled coffee concentrate brings the same core idea into multiple settings, giving consumers and hospitality venues a simple way to make iced coffee without specialist equipment.
For brands, operators and retailers, it offers a more accessible route into cold coffee, with a format that feels familiar and easy to use. It also supports the wider shift towards at-home cold coffee occasions, where convenience and flexibility matter.
Key benefits include:
The flavour profile is positioned as smooth and chocolatey, with a simple 1 part concentrate to 5 parts milk or water serve.
RTD canned coffee expands the proposition into fully finished, ready-to-drink products.
This route is better suited to established brands, larger retailers and businesses looking to build a broader beverage proposition. Compared with concentrate, RTD offers more room for flavour development and finished product positioning, while still sitting within Lincoln & York’s wider white-label cold coffee offer.
It is particularly relevant for:
Current approved claims for this format include RFA certified coffee, natural energy, and shake, pour, open, enjoy.
Each cold coffee format serves a different commercial need. The right choice depends on your channel, serve type and the level of scale or customisation required.
| Bottled | RTD cans | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary channel | Retail | Chilled retail / convenience |
| Serve type | Dilutable concentrate | Ready-to-drink |
| Preparation required | Minimal (add milk/water) | None |
| Customisation scope | Lower | Higher |
| Best suited for | Retailers entering at-home cold coffee | Established brands and larger launches |
| Bag-in-box | Bottled | RTD cans | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary channel | Foodservice / hospitality | Retail | Chilled retail / convenience |
| Serve type | Dilutable concentrate | Dilutable concentrate | Ready-to-drink |
| Preparation required | Minimal (add milk/water) | Minimal (add milk/water) | None |
| Customisation scope | Lower | Lower | Higher |
| Best suited for | Operators serving cold coffee at pace | Retailers entering at-home cold coffee | Established brands and larger launches |
If you are not sure which route is the best fit, Lincoln & York can help you assess the options based on your audience, channel and commercial goals.
Our cold coffee offer is supported by a wider service model built around commercial coffee supply. That includes buying and sourcing, packaging and distribution, market insight, technical oversight and broader coffee expertise.
Lincoln & York supports brands, retailers and operators from early planning through to launch.
Understand your audience, channel and commercial goals to identify the right cold coffee route.
Match your requirements to bag-in-box, bottled concentrate or RTD cans.
Support with format-appropriate packaging design, compliance, and label requirements for your white-label product.
Coordinate production and distribution to help bring the product to market effectively.
Answers to common questions from brands, retailers and operators exploring white-label cold coffee solutions.
Lincoln & York offers two formats: bottled coffee concentrate for retail and at-home use, and RTD canned coffee for chilled retail and branded launches.
Bottled concentrate is a format designed to be diluted and served, usually in hospitality or foodservice. RTD canned coffee is a finished ready-to-drink product designed for chilled retail and grab-and-go use.
Yes. RTD canned coffee is the more customisable route within the wider offer and is better suited to larger-scale branded opportunities. That can include flavour direction, product profile and fully printed can design, depending on the scale of the launch.
Yes. The proposition is built around white-label cold coffee solutions, allowing businesses to bring products to market under their own branding.
Lincoln & York operates from a BRC AA-accredited facility. RTD canned coffee currently uses RFA certified coffee. We maintain rigorous quality and technical oversight across all formats.
MOQ depends on format. For RTD cans, fully printed cans require 250,000 units per design, with finished product orders typically starting from 40,000 cans per SKU.
Yes. Lincoln & York can support the wider commercial requirements around packaging, distribution and route to market.
The best place to start is a conversation. From there, we can help you explore the right format, route and approach for your business.
Answers to common questions from brands, retailers and operators exploring white-label cold coffee solutions.
Lincoln & York offers three formats: bag-in-box coffee concentrate for foodservice and hospitality, bottled coffee concentrate for retail and at-home use, and RTD canned coffee for chilled retail and branded launches.
Bag-in-box is a concentrate format designed to be diluted and served, usually in hospitality or foodservice. RTD canned coffee is a finished ready-to-drink product designed for chilled retail and grab-and-go use.
Bag-in-box cold brew concentrate is generally the best fit for hospitality and foodservice, where speed, consistency and ease of use matter most.
Yes. RTD canned coffee is the more customisable route within the wider offer and is better suited to larger-scale branded opportunities. That can include flavour direction, product profile and fully printed can design, depending on the scale of the launch.
Yes. The proposition is built around white-label cold coffee solutions, allowing businesses to bring products to market under their own branding.
Lincoln & York operates from a BRC AA-accredited facility. RTD canned coffee currently uses RFA certified coffee. We maintain rigorous quality and technical oversight across all formats.
MOQ depends on format. For bag-in-box, bespoke branded MOQ is 1,200 litres / 400 boxes, while generic branded boxes can be available from as little as 1 box. For RTD cans, fully printed cans require 250,000 units per design, with finished product orders typically starting from 40,000 cans per SKU.
Yes. Lincoln & York can support the wider commercial requirements around packaging, distribution and route to market.
The best place to start is a conversation. From there, we can help you explore the right format, route and approach for your business.
If you are exploring white-label cold coffee solutions, speak to our team. We will help you identify the right format, route and approach for your business.