New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra has established a new channel within its foodservice business to reflect changes in how Asian consumers use dairy for tea and coffee products.

The channel, called Beverage House, aims to capitalise on the growing popularity of beverages made with yogurt, topped with cream cheese or mixed with cream.

The trend of adding dairy to more traditional beverages started in China with the tea macchiato, which is green tea topped with a mix of cream and cream cheese.

Almost 600 million cups of tea and coffee are consumed out of home every day in the Asia-Pacific region alone – 22% higher than five years ago – underlining the size of opportunity for dairy companies like Fonterra.

The Beverage House business will aim to provide premium Anchor Food Professionals products to tea and coffee houses, beverage kiosks and dessert bars. It joins Fonterra’s existing foodservice channels: Quick Serve Restaurants, Italian Kitchen and Asian Bakery.

Susan Cassidy, general manager – marketing for Fonterra’s global foodservice business, explained: “In Asia, consumers are moving from traditional ‘straight’ brews to drinks with dairy, as they look for a more indulgent way to enjoy their daily fix of coffee or tea.

“This trend was really driven by youth and took off, with people queuing for hours to get the latest creation from their favourite tea house. We moved quickly and as a result the tea macchiato alone grew the volume of our cream and cream cheese sales by 47% in the first half of the 2017/18 financial year.

“Beverage House has mainly been focused on China so far, but the potential for growth in other markets is huge. We are now using what we’ve learnt to look at other markets where beverages with dairy are growing in popularity.

“Having a standalone channel within our foodservice business means we can be more targeted with the service we offer our beverage customers and gain a better understanding of changing consumer tastes and trends.”