Grupo Nutresa Merges Two Iconic Colombian Brands to Capture the Gen Z Coffee Market with the New Colcafé Jet Iced Slush

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA — In a strategic move designed to disrupt the traditional at-home beverage market and capture the imagination of a younger demographic, Grupo Nutresa has officially unveiled its latest product: the Colcafé Granizado with Jet Chocolate flavor.

This innovative instant iced coffee slush brings together two of the most deeply rooted household brands in Colombia—Colcafé and Jet chocolate—transforming what has traditionally been an expensive, out-of-home café indulgence into an accessible, everyday treat that can be whipped up in any home kitchen with little more than a blender, water, and ice.

The launch is far more than a simple product extension; it is a calculated response to massive shifts in global beverage consumption, generational preferences, and the explosive rise of cold coffee culture, particularly among Generation Z.

Main Facts: A Nostalgic Collaboration Meets Modern Coffee Trends

The core of this new market offering lies in a high-profile cross-brand collaboration within Grupo Nutresa’s portfolio. By fusing the heritage of Colcafé with the beloved taste of Jet chocolate—a chocolate bar that has anchored Colombian childhoods for decades—Nutresa is banking on emotional resonance paired with modern lifestyle trends.

Key elements of the product launch include:

• The Product: A powder-based instant coffee mix designed specifically to create a thick, indulgent iced slush (granizado) at home.
• The Preparation: Consumers only need to mix the product packet with water, ice, and blend. It is sold in convenient boxes containing five individual servings.
• The Economics: While a comparable coffee shop granizado can easily cost between 10,000 and 15,000 Colombian pesos ($2.50 to $3.75 USD), the at-home version reduces the cost to approximately 3,000 pesos ($0.75 USD) per portion.
• Availability: The product is currently rolling out across major supermarket chains, hypermarkets, and self-service stores throughout Colombia.

David Echavarría, Marketing Manager for Nutresa’s Coffee Business, explained that the overarching goal was to "break the ice" and democratize a luxury experience.

"We wanted to go a step further, ensuring that granizados, which today are an exceptional experience that only happens outside the home, become a daily routine for our consumers," Echavarría stated. "To achieve this, we united two of Nutresa’s flagship brands in a disruptive collaboration."

Chronology: The Evolution Toward Cold and Indulgent Coffee

The journey toward the creation of the Colcafé Jet slush is rooted in a decade-long transformation of global beverage consumption habits.

• Early 2010s: The foundation for specialty coffee consumption expanded rapidly worldwide, with coffee shops popularizing blended iced beverages, frappés, and granizados as premium, high-margin items. However, these products remained largely tethered to commercial storefronts.
• The Pandemic and At-Home Innovation (2020–2023): Lockdowns forced consumers to recreate café experiences at home, accelerating demand for premium instant and soluble coffee formats.
• The Gen Z Shift (2024–2025): Market research underscored a dramatic behavioral split across generations. Industry data revealed that younger consumers—specifically Generation Z and younger millennials—began treating coffee less as a morning stimulant and more as an afternoon snack, dessert, or lifestyle accessory, heavily favoring cold, sweet, and customizable preparations.
• Product Development and Market Testing (2025): Leveraging a stellar fiscal year for its coffee division—which grew by over 17% in 2025—Nutresa accelerated R&D efforts to combine its soluble coffee expertise with confectionery flavors that resonate with younger demographics.
• March 2026 (The Official Launch): Grupo Nutresa officially introduces the Colcafé Granizado with Jet chocolate flavor to the Colombian market, backed by aggressive retail distribution and digital marketing campaigns aimed at future-proofing its coffee segment.

Supporting Data: The Global and Local Coffee Boom

To understand why Nutresa is investing heavily in a chocolate-flavored coffee slush, one must look closely at shifting consumer data. The coffee industry is no longer driven solely by hot, black espresso or traditional drip coffee.

According to insights from the National Coffee Association (NCA), cold coffee beverages now account for more than 50% of total coffee consumption among young adults aged 18 to 24. This demographic views hot coffee as traditional or unappealing, heavily migrating toward iced, blended, and milk-infused formats.

On a macro level, Nutresa’s internal market analytics highlight staggering structural growth:

• The Cold Coffee Surge: Global consumption of cold coffee has skyrocketed by roughly 300% over the past decade.
• Future Projections: The cold coffee sector maintains a projected annual growth rate close to 8%, heavily catalyzed by Gen Z preferences.
• Financial Performance: Propelled by these evolving categories, Nutresa’s coffee business reported growth exceeding 17% in 2025. The conglomerate is projecting that total sales for its coffee division will surpass 3.5 trillion Colombian pesos by the close of 2026.
• Accessibility Gap: By pricing each serving at roughly 3,000 pesos, Nutresa is targeting a massive segment of households that love specialty coffee beverages but are squeezed by inflationary pressures when purchasing out-of-home alternatives.

Official Responses: What the Executives Are Saying

Grupo Nutresa’s leadership has emphasized that this launch is a masterclass in brand empathy and demographic adaptation. Executives note that maintaining relevance in a historic coffee-producing nation requires evolving alongside younger generations.

"We are very excited to announce this innovation, which reaffirms the empathy our brands have with consumers by delivering high-value, yet highly affordable options for Colombian households."
— Nicolás Osorio, Marketing Director for the Colcafé Brand.

Osorio and his team recognized that simply offering standard instant coffee was no longer sufficient to capture the attention of digital-native consumers accustomed to sensory-rich, visually appealing food and beverage trends.

"Colombia is a global icon of coffee, and we have found that young people fall in love with it through cold, indulgent products," added David Echavarría, Coffee Marketing Manager. "By leading with our Colcafé brand and combining it with the flavor of Jet, we are ensuring that coffee remains relevant for future generations."

Implications: Market Strategy, Brand Synergy, and Future Outlook

The introduction of the Colcafé Jet iced slush carries significant implications for Colombia’s domestic retail landscape, manufacturing synergy, and cultural relationship with coffee.

1. Re-engineering Brand Equity

For decades, Jet chocolate has been a staple of Colombian culture—known primarily for its classic milk chocolate bars and collectible animal sticker albums. By partnering with Colcafé, Nutresa is cross-pollinating equity. It revitalizes the perception of instant coffee as modern and fun, while positioning Jet outside the strictly confectionery aisle and into the beverage category.

2. Defending Domestic Market Share Against Specialty Cafes

While chains like Juan Valdez, Starbucks, and local artisan coffee shops have captured the youth market through high-end "nevados" and frappés, they remain a luxury purchase. Nutresa’s product bridges the gap between café culture and grocery retail, offering a high-indulgence product that bypasses the friction of inflation and tight household budgets.

3. Securing Long-Term Generational Loyalty

As older generations age out of primary consumer demographics, legacy food and beverage companies face the existential threat of brand irrelevance. By introducing Gen Z to coffee via sweet, cold, and nostalgic flavor profiles, Nutresa is building a lifelong consumer pipeline. If a consumer’s first experience with coffee is a sweet, chocolatey Colcafé Jet slush at age 18, they are statistically far more likely to transition into broader coffee consumption categories as they mature.

4. Financial Momentum

With double-digit growth targets and a clear path toward surpassing 3.5 trillion pesos in coffee sales by the end of 2026, Nutresa is proving that traditional agricultural and manufacturing giants can successfully innovate with agility. If the Colcafé-Jet hybrid proves successful in domestic retail, industry analysts will be watching closely to see if Nutresa exports this cross-category playbook to international markets where both cold coffee and novel chocolate flavors hold high growth potential.