Reimagining Instant Coffee for SMEs

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The habits of Millennial and Gen Z consumers are rapidly altering global coffee consumption patterns. Motivated by the growing demand for premiumization and customization, instant coffee manufacturers are reimagining what soluble coffee is capable of. Opportunities are opening up for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to enter the soluble landscape and provide specialized, hyper-regional products directly to their audiences.

Consumers Prioritize Quality and Convenience

Estimated to be worth $36.73 billion in 2025, Mordor Intelligence predicts the global instant coffee market will reach $48.17 billion by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.57%. Mordor correlates instant coffee’s market expansion to “the transformation in consumer preferences, specifically the increased demand for convenient, premium coffee products that accommodate contemporary lifestyles.”

As younger demographics consume higher levels of coffee, there’s an emphasis on single-origin products that combine the elevated flavors of specialty coffee with the convenience of instant and ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages. While the mass-produced segment still commands the lion’s share of the soluble market (84.92%), Mordor expects the premium tier to expand by 9.19% between 2025 and 2030, surpassing the overall market growth rate.

Fueled by the proliferation of e-commerce platforms that offer direct-to-consumer local distribution, shoppers now have more access to — and an increasing desire for — a diverse range of products. Suddenly, there’s a demand for creativity and experimentation in an industry that has essentially been producing the same product for the last 70 years. Echoing beer’s evolution, instant coffee is ready to enter its microbrew era.

Introducing Scalable Soluble Processing

There’s a reason giant multinational corporations dominate the instant coffee market. Manufacturing soluble coffee is a complex, highly technical, and costly process. Setting up a traditional instant processing plant requires an initial investment of at least $100 million and a plot of land large enough to house a five-story-tall building that’s roughly the size of a football field.

Such significant investments demand returns and force companies to solely focus on producing high yields that generate profits, leaving little room for creativity and experimentation. However, one market leader specializing in instant coffee processing solutions believes SMEs have the potential to create successful soluble product lines using smaller, more flexible setups that offer innovation and customization.

DEVEX Verfahrenstechnik GmbH is a global provider of process engineering solutions in the fields of extraction, evaporation, and drying. In an interview with STiR Coffee and Tea Media, Nicolai Wickert, senior sales manager at DEVEX, discusses developing artisanal instant coffee production for SMEs.

“We’re experiencing a growing demand from small and medium-sized companies that want to enlarge their portfolios and create their own instant coffee products, while remaining independent,” explains Wickert. “They want to create something unlike anything else on the market. Their customers crave unique flavors and pronounced aromas.”

Consumers are calling for an elevated instant coffee experience; they want gourmet artisanal products that don’t compromise on quality. Companies such as Starbucks and Nescafé are responding by launching new soluble product lines made from single-origin or specialty-grade beans (see Nescafé Courts Gen Z Amid Shifting Consumer Behavior).

“We decided to rethink instant coffee processing,” said Wickert. “We’re not trying to compete with the big players. Rather, we’re opening up new opportunities for SMEs to create signature products that haven’t been available before now.” So Wickert’s team ditched the large-scale processing format and focused on innovation and customization instead.

By combining DEVEX’s expertise in extraction with its extensive experience in instant coffee processing, they’ve created an artisanal extraction system that’s accessible and scalable for small to medium-sized businesses.

“This is a much smaller extraction system than a traditional instant coffee manufacturing process,” Wickert explains. “It’s much simpler and easier to operate. Everything is compact and modular. Even if someone is not familiar with large industrial equipment, they can use it after a short training session. It’s that easy.”

DEVEX’s new multi-extraction process gives SMEs a foothold in the soluble market. It allows them the freedom to experiment with various processes and methods, creating an infinite number of products and flavors.

SOLAR Gold: The Instantization of Cold Brew

The concept of small-scale multi-extraction actually began years ago when a client asked Wickert to come up with a way to instantize cold brew. “We started doing a lot of trials for cold brew and liquid coffee extraction on relatively tiny equipment. The taste and aroma profiles we got from our cold brew trials were more sophisticated than traditional instant extraction, and the yields were surprisingly reasonable.”

Cold brew’s massive rise in popularity is reshaping the instant coffee and RTD industries. Valued at around $3.16 billion in 2024 by Fortune Business Insights, the cold brew market is expected to grow from $3.87 billion in 2025 to $16.22 billion by 2032, representing a staggering CAGR of 22.71%.

Steeping ground coffee in cold or room temperature water for an extended period of time results in a smoother flavor that has a natural sweetness without any acidity or bitterness. Cold brew is often served without sweeteners or creamers, adding to its perception as a healthier alternative to traditional iced lattes. Its complex flavors lend themselves perfectly to specialty coffee preparations and elevate standard RTD offerings.

Cold brew’s only drawback is that its slightly complex brewing methods require a certain level of skill to avoid errors and product waste. “We found that combining cold or hot brew extraction methods with soluble production offers incredible potential for endless opportunities,” adds Wickert. “We’re amazed and have even surprised ourselves with the end results.”

Combining traditional cold maceration and advanced high-efficiency extraction technology with DEVEX’s new state-of-the-art frost-drying method creates soluble crystal granules that have a glittery golden hue and completely dissolve in hot or cold liquids within seconds, with no off-taste or sediment left behind. “The flavor is absolutely different,” Wickert states. “There’s massive potential to achieve specialty coffee levels of aroma and taste — with more intense and complex flavors than traditional instant coffee. No one has ever made soluble coffee this way. It’s completely new.”

Named after its attractive appearance, superior soluble qualities, and premium flavor, SOLAR (sol=soluble and ar=artisanal) Gold is the first example of artisanally produced instant coffee with serious marketing potential. “It even dissolves in cold (7°C/44.6°F) milk in five seconds,” adds Wickert. “The solubility of the product is amazing. This opens up new opportunities for personalized iced lattes made at home or bottled beverages on the go.”

Sustainable Soluble Production

The compact modular nature of the DEVEX multi-extractor system requires much less space than traditional instant processing. “Our system only requires one 20-meter by 20-meter room with a 9-meter-high ceiling,” Wickert explains. “The initial investment is only a fraction of the big industrial plants. This makes SOLAR Gold even more appealing to smaller companies because it’s modular. They can grow with it and add more components as they develop their product lines over time.”

One of the most significant components in terms of space and energy consumption in soluble processing is the drying element. Since most standard processing methods use only hot water to extract, the results must be either freeze-dried or spray-dried afterward. Freeze-drying preserves more flavor and aroma but requires large refrigeration rooms to cool the extract down before it can be frozen and broken up into granules. This time-consuming process needs a lot of energy and carries a high carbon footprint.

Frost drying, a new method developed by DEVEX, uses a conveyor belt and vacuum system to evaporate water within the extract below the water’s natural freezing point. The extracted liquid is dosed into a very thin layer on a conveyor belt and passed under a deep vacuum that instantly freezes and evaporates the excess moisture.

Wickert describes the efficiency of the frost-drying method. “From the very moment the liquid hits the belt, it immediately starts to evaporate and dry by releasing ice molecules,” he explains. “This is very different from how others are doing the drying process. Running through our drying system takes about one hour, and by the time it reaches the end of the belt, the coffee is dehydrated with a 2.5-3% moisture level.”

Sustainability has been taken into consideration at every stage of the SOLAR Gold process. Due to its individual components, the system saves energy by only operating what needs to be used at any given time, as opposed to having to run thousands of pieces of equipment simultaneously in a standard facility.

The absence of bitter off-flavors allows water to be conserved and reused multiple times. “Where cooling is required, we use the energy elsewhere for heating,” says Wickert. “Where evaporation is required, we collect the condensate and return it as water to the process. Electricity consumption is only a fraction of that used in conventional methods. All in all, it’s a very sustainable way of producing soluble coffee or extracts.”

Endless Possibilities

Artisanal processing offers a level of personalized customization that industrial production can’t match. Modern consumers desire products tailored to their preferences. Whether that’s represented by regional flavors, functional ingredients, or reduced caffeine levels, SMEs are ideally suited to address these rapidly rising trends.

“This is the heart of the multi-extractor system,” Wickert concludes. “It allows for countless processing methods. Every process or sequence is completely adjustable, allowing you to experiment with body, flavor, aroma, roast temperatures, coffee bean types (arabica, robusta), single origin, and blends. Even herbs, botanicals, and tea extracts can be made with this system. The possibilities are endless.”