Rodd’s Iced Coffee, the ready-to-drink brand created by YouTube stars James Marriott and Will Lenney (aka Willne), has passed £3m retail sales value in its first year in market.
Having initially landed in 300 Sainsbury’s stores last April, Rodd’s is now available in the retailer’s full estate, and a total of 1,000 distribution points across the UK including convenience retailers, forecourts and food-to-go operator Sandwich Sandwich.
“Distribution has been the biggest part [of Rodd’s success], being able to get people to try it for the first time,” Marriott told The Grocer. “But we’ve also shown a strong repeat purchase rate with people coming back and saying ‘I would like another one of those’.”
The brand was also proving highly incremental to iced coffee, Marriott said, citing NIQ data showing that – in the first 12 weeks after its launch – 75% of Rodd’s shoppers in Sainsbury’s were new to the iced coffee category.
Success has propelled the brand to the number one spot in plant-based iced coffee, ahead of more established peers such as Starbucks, Califia Farms, Grind, Jimmy’s and Moma [NIQ 52 w/e 21 February 2026].
“The plant-based coffee market swings towards a younger demographic, and Rodd’s is at the forefront,” Marriott said. “We’re marketing directly to younger people that other giants have failed to captivate.
“Will and I both have an audience made up of university goers, people going into their first jobs. We’re bringing that audience to the iced coffee market in supermarkets.”
Brown Sugar Latte launch
This month, Rodd’s will roll its sixth SKU, Brown Sugar Latte, into Sainsbury’s stores.
It joins a lineup of dessert-inspired flavours including Waffle Oat Latte, Matcha Latte with Vanilla, Tiramisu Latte and Maple Sea Salt Latte, and will also be included in the retailer’s meal deal, alongside Original Oat Latte.
“We wanted to make something that was a slightly more indulgent, slightly sweeter offering to the Original, but less on the nose and more distinctive than caramel,” Marriott said. “I’m a great believer that you should make the things that you want to make for yourself.
“There’s a David Bowie quote which is that you should never play to the gallery, and I believe that transcends music and into NPD and food and drink as well.”
Having hit the £3m RSV milestone, Rodd’s was now focused on securing further distribution gains in grocery, while also growing awareness beyond of its founders’ social media, Marriott said.
“We’ll be investing in more sampling and more out-of-home activity as we look to push beyond mine and Will’s audience as much as we can,” he said. “To increase distribution further is obviously a really big aim for us, but we’ll also be investing time to ensure we can continue to give the consumers more options when they come to the shelf.”
Marriott refused to be drawn on future NPD, but said “significant growth” in honey had led Rodd’s to begin exploring how the ingredient could be worked into “a secondary part of coffee”.
“I’m really excited to see what we can come up with,” he added.
No comments yet