Nestlé Introduces Coffee Cascara: A New Coffee Species Made from Fruit Peel
Nestlé recently showcased a new coffee species called Cascara at a Yunnan coffee flavor map event in Shanghai. Made from the dried skin of the coffee fruit, Cascara is a by-product of coffee production. Traditionally discarded, this skin is now brewed into a tea-like drink. Nestlé launched four Cascara specialty drinks, but they remain in development and trial stages, with launch details undecided. The company acknowledges that the main challenge is consumer awareness and acceptance, not technology.
Coffee beans come from the seeds of the coffee fruit, which are processed to remove pulp and skin before roasting. Coffee Cascara uses that peeled skin, often sun-dried or oven-dried, to create a beverage with a flavor closer to tea. The modern promoter is Salvadoran coffee grower Aida Batlle, who named the drink after the Spanish word for skin or peel. Cascara has a long drinking tradition in some regions abroad and is a popular local beverage.
Besides the seeds, the discarded skin of the coffee fruit can also become a drink? This July, at a Yunnan coffee flavor map event held in Shanghai, Nestlé showcased a new coffee species called "Cascara" for the first time in the Chinese market. This drink, made from coffee fruit skin, transforms the skin that was originally regarded as waste, through drying and brewing, into a beverage with a flavor similar to tea. Nestlé also launched four Cascara specialty drinks, but they are still in the development and trial stage, and the launch time and format have not yet been determined. Nestlé admits that the real challenge is not technology, but how to make consumers aware of and accept Cascara. This article will take you through the origins, flavor characteristics, and Nestlé's strategic approach to coffee Cascara.
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This July, Nestlé participated in the "Third Edition and 2023 Yunnan Coffee Flavor Map" event held in Shanghai. At this event, a product under Nestlé Coffee named "Cascara" made its debut in the Chinese market. What is refreshing is that this coffee giant did not focus only on traditional coffee beans, but instead turned its attention to a previously underdeveloped coffee raw material — coffee fruit skin — in an attempt to transform it into a "new coffee species" with economic value.
At this Yunnan Coffee Flavor Map event, Nestlé launched a new coffee species — "Cascara." So, what exactly is coffee Cascara?
The coffee we drink every day comes from the seeds of the coffee fruit, namely coffee beans. Coffee beans need to be processed to remove the pulp and skin and other parts, and then roasted before they become the coffee we are familiar with. Coffee Cascara, on the other hand, is the product obtained after drying the skin peeled off during the processing of the coffee fruit. In the past, this skin was often treated as waste, but after sun-drying or oven-drying and then brewing, it can become a rather distinctive drink. It is essentially a by-product of coffee production, yet its flavor is closer to tea, hence the name Cascara.
The promoter of modern coffee Cascara is coffee grower Aida Batlle from El Salvador. It is said that during a cupping session, Batlle accidentally brewed the skin that was originally going to be discarded, and afterward decided to name this drink "Cascara" — in Spanish, this word means "skin" or "peel."
Coffee Cascara has a fairly long drinking tradition in some regions abroad and is a quite popular beverage locally. It is understood that for centuries, coffee farmers in Yemen and Ethiopia have had the habit of sun-drying coffee fruit skin and brewing it for drinking, sometimes adding spices such as ginger, nutmeg, or cinnamon. This type of drink is called Hashara in Ethiopia and Qisher in Yemen.
At the exhibition booth, the coffee Cascara specialty series brought by Nestlé Coffee had four flavors in total, named "Mei Mei Tango," "Meilong Gui Yu," "Shanlin Weixun," and "Kaguo Huayu." The ingredients of these drinks include puree made from coffee fruit skin, syrup, and concentrated liquid made from tea leaves.
However, the drinks in the coffee Cascara series are still in the development and trial stage. The specific time for bringing the coffee Cascara series products to market has not yet been determined, nor is it clear in what final form they will be launched, such as instant, ready-to-drink, or sold as beverages in food service stores.
Nestlé faces no small number of difficulties in advancing the coffee Cascara series. Alfonso Troisi, Senior Vice President of the Coffee Business Unit for Nestlé Greater China, once said: "The difficult part is not the product technology, but how to build consumer awareness of Cascara."
Turning the yet-to-be-discovered "treasure raw material" coffee fruit skin into a commodity with economic value is expected to greatly improve coffee utilization and also bring new business opportunities to Nestlé Coffee. Next, we may as well look forward to what new experiences Nestlé Coffee will bring to consumers through the coffee Cascara series products.
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