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Own brand instant coffee at Albert Heijn
Imagine: you stroll through the supermarket, push your cart through the aisles, past display cases and then you end up at the coffee aisle. You let your eyes run over all the different choices, flavors and brands. Don't you wonder: how are these products actually made? How nice would it be, a glimpse into the 'kitchen'. As for the instant coffee: we'll give you that!
In this inspiring interview with Bas Theunissen, sourcing manager for coffee, tea and supplies at Albert Heijn, he looks back on the process with TB Brown, in which we put together a beautiful product: Albert Heijn's own brand instant coffee.
Who do you do it for, what is the type of customer who buys instant coffee at Albert Heijn?
‘Did you know that instant coffee is the most consumed coffee worldwide? There are many different types of instant coffee, which means there are several types of customers. People may drink instant coffee because they are used to it at home, but also because of convenience because only hot water is needed. And those two examples are certainly not exhaustive.'
What was the reason for changing the instant coffee offering?
'At Albert Heijn we are always working to improve our products and this certainly also applies to our instant coffee.'
Why is there no instant coffee from your Perla brand?
'The special thing about Perla coffee is that we purchase the green beans ourselves from Albert Heijn and the roasting process is carried out from start to finish in our own roasting facility. The production of instant coffee goes through a specific process and because we drink relatively little instant coffee in the Netherlands, it is not feasible for us to purchase those machines at the roasting plant. That is why we work together with other suppliers who can guarantee the highest quality. Because the process is not carried out entirely in-house, we do not call it Perla but Albert Heijn coffee.'
How did you find TB Brown?
“Guido Teekamp, commercial director at TB Brown, contacted Albert Heijn and convinced us of the quality that TB Brown could offer.”
Who was your contact at TB Brown?
'I have had a lot of contact with Guido and during a 'cupping' session we also visited the TB Brown office to test the new flavors. Our teams got to know each other there. Unfortunately, corona broke out afterwards and we held the meetings by telephone or via video calling.'
Can you tell us something about the process? How long did it take from first contact to the end result on the shelf?
'The first contact had already been made earlier, but it took about 8 months between the start of the process and the final product on the shelf. We spent most of our time tasting and conducting consumer tests to determine what the ideal recipe should be.'
What were the challenges in this process?
'Choosing the perfect recipe, because we noticed during consumer tests that flavors really differ. We also spent a long time determining in which packaging we wanted to release the instant coffee. We now know from sustainability analyzes that a PET jar has a smaller carbon footprint than a glass jar, but consumer tolerance for PET is low.'
What did you think of TB Brown's service?
'Excellent. We wanted to make some last minute adjustments to the product and TB Brown was extremely flexible with this and even advised us on the fastest way to do that.'
What will you pay extra attention to the next time you make instant coffee with TB Brown?
'On the reactions of consumers to our new recipes. Ultimately, we do it for the customer, so it must be appreciated. Fortunately, the first reactions are positive!'
What is the flavor profile of the instant coffee you made together? Describe what you taste.
'You taste and smell coffee! We took up the challenge with TB Brown to combine the experience of a fresh cup of coffee with the convenience of instant coffee. The smell in particular is difficult to maintain when processing coffee into instant coffee and that has now been solved. I would say, taste it and experience it for yourself.'
Are you going to make a recipe with this instant coffee for Allerhande?
“We have already been working on using TB Brown coffee in other products, but as far as I know, no concrete results have been achieved yet.”
Do you ever drink instant coffee yourself?
'Of course! We test coffee from our range, as well as that of our competitors, almost every day, and that includes instant coffee.'