Southwest Airlines Introduces In-Flight Iced Coffee
Community Coffee's Espresso + Cream will soon be available to all Southwest customers for just $4 per bottle
Photo: Courtesy of Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines is shaking up its inflight catering menu with Community Coffee’s Espresso + Cream iced coffee, becoming the first U.S. airline to offer iced coffee to customers on all flights.
Community Coffee, the airline’s primary coffee supplier since 2016, is a family-run coffee brand based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The company strives to be a sustainable coffee brand, promising to reinvest its profits into educational and agriculture-training programs in the Latin American regions where coffee beans are sourced.
Although a launch date hasn’t yet been confirmed, the airline’s customers will soon be able to drink iced coffee during their flights thanks to its long-term partner Community Coffee.
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“The coffee options inflight at Southwest Airlines just got even cooler with Community Coffee’s Espresso + Cream iced coffee available onboard for Customers to purchase for $4,” said Community Coffee in a press release. “Community Coffee has been the official inflight coffee of Southwest Airlines since 2016, and we are excited to welcome this new drink onboard – especially after learning from Mintel that 42% of Gen Z consumes cold coffee.”
The company also claims its Espresso + Cream product to be superior to that of its rivals, saying: “This product is the only coffee forward (others lead with cream and sugar) and resealable espresso in the market – making it the perfect in-air flight beverage for travelers to take on the go.”
The new drinks are expected to be rolled out across Southwest’s entire fleet, which means they will be served on over 4,000 flights per day (barring cancellations!) across more than 100 destinations in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.
Southwest Airlines operations in Denver. Photo: Courtesy of Southwest Airlines / Stephen M. Keller
The new drinks won’t be complimentary. Instead, the chilled 8oz bottles, which contain 120mg of natural caffeine, just 150 calories, and can be served over ice, will cost $4 apiece.
According to research, iced coffee beverages are growing in popularity among Americans, especially younger generations. Starbucks says more than 60% of coffee sales now come from iced and chilled drinks.
With this new product offering, Southwest will become the first major airline in the U.S. to act on this trend by offering iced coffee on all its flights. Delta Air Lines is the only other carrier in the country that provides passengers with iced coffee, although they only serve it on certain transcontinental and Hawaii-bound flights.
