How Smucker’s coffee brands keep sales and innovation percolating

In this interview, the first of a two-part interview, Food Dive interviewed Joe Stanziano, senior vice president and general manager of coffee at Smuckers headquarters in Orville, Ohio, about the iconic brand’s evolving We talked about segments.

JM Smucker controls about 26% of the US home coffee sector. The company owns three of the eight biggest coffee brands: Folgers, Cafe Bustello and CPG-packaged Dunkin. The company’s coffee business is worth $2.5 billion, CEO Mark Smucker said at this year’s New York Consumer Analyst Group conference.

Nearly two-thirds of American adults say they drank coffee on their last day, according to the National Coffee Association’s Spring 2023 statistics. With 71% of his total coffee consumption being consumed at home, according to company stats, Smucker is well positioned to continue shaping the category.

Smucker’s senior vice president and general manager of coffee, Joe Stanziano, spoke with Food Dive about the coffee business, how the company is navigating the current economic climate, and its future growth plans.

This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Food Dive: Can you give us an overview of Smucker’s coffee business?

Joe Stanziano: I would like to start by telling you how much we love working in the coffee industry. This category is just great. The consumer base is strong and broad. Folgers is that iconic brand. It’s our biggest one. it will exist forever.

My relationship with Dunkin’ Donuts has been going on for over 12 years and it’s been great. We are licensed to source, manufacture, sell and distribute all Dunkin products in our retail space. We don’t do anything in store, but we work very closely with Dunkin’. That brand is very strong. This is our coffee growth engine and we continue to see further opportunities.

The third is the little Café Bustelo brand that we all love. It is growing by double digits.we got it long ago [20]11. The fire has just started. It is the number one Latin brand in its category. It’s a great brand because it really has this great position. It is very different from any other product in this category, not only in product, but also in atmosphere, branding and coloring.

All of these brands are coffee, but each audience has its own niche. And each brand has its own strategy in how to pursue it.

Stanziano: These brands have a lot of capital and a lot of tradition. You know what people expect from this brand, right? But we also need to evolve over time and make sure we stay on top of what’s going on with our consumers.

10, 12 years ago, there wasn’t much of a K-cup business [at Smucker]. The whole Keurig machine was still off its feet. Currently, his K-cup segment in coffee is: [nearly a third of sales].

Café Bustello is experiencing amazing growth. why?

Stanziano: Having a brand like this is great because it gives you a lot of opportunities. I think this asset cannot be underestimated. The Latin vibes, colors and even the packaging really stand out in this category. Very different from what you see in the store. are yellow and red.

The team did a great job creatively. We do a lot of social activities.that [has] There are some very vivid video clips. We collaborated with a Latin music star and indeed he created a unique song for the Bustelo brand.

It’s not a newborn brand. There is history. There are older consumers who grew up with Bustello and know its traditions. That also gives Bustello a lot of credibility.

Actually, it was a brand that started in Miami and New York. Cuban consumer in Miami. Hispanic resident of New York. It was big for a bodega. We are starting to push it. Texas has been a huge growth opportunity for those of us in Chicago, Southern California looking to capitalize on these high-index Hispanic markets.

But again, this is also very relevant to younger millennials, who tend to live in larger cities and urban spaces. It’s a great combination of forays into these regions.

But let’s be honest, Walmart has it in every store nationwide, so now it’s showing up in markets we probably wouldn’t expect, and it’s doing quite well.

What is your strategy for Folgers, and how do you make it relevant to both new and lifelong consumers?

Stanziano: The longevity of big brands is both a blessing and a curse. [J.A.] Folgers began selling coffee in 1850. About three years ago, we embarked on an internal project to reintroduce the brand. There’s nothing wrong with the product, consumers just didn’t find it relevant.

all of us [Folgers] Coffee is sourced and produced in New Orleans. We relaunched this campaign to talk about our heritage as a brand and our pride in being made in New Orleans. New Orleans has a strong coffee vibe nationally, so we represented it to the fullest.

We started talking about the breadth of products in the Folgers portfolio: different countries of origin, different roasts: dark and light. Whatever your taste buds call for, there’s an opportunity at Folgers.

[We started] By pushing Folgers into the world of K-cups, when consumers say, “Hey, stop brewing coffee with Mr. Coffee and go to K-cups,” Folgers is there. And we have the product.

In the current economic climate, Folgers are a great value when compared to many other products in the field. As long as consumers are looking for value and still want really high quality, great tasting coffee, we see a lot of opportunities. Folgers is right in the middle.