Ready-to-Drink Tea & Coffee (Canned Iced Coffee, Latte, Iced Tea and Green Tea; Dairy and Non-Dairy)

Canned iced coffee and lattes, iced tea and green tea in cans, PET and cartons, dairy and non-dairy

Ready-to-drink tea and coffee are finished drinks, not extracts, and customs treats them that way: US Customs rulings classify ready-to-drink coffee beverages with milk, such as canned café latte and cold brew cappuccino, under HS 2202.99 as other non-alcoholic beverages, while instant coffee and preparations with a basis of coffee extracts stay under HS 2101.12, and tea extracts and their preparations under heading 2101. The line that matters in production is dairy or non-dairy. A milk coffee or milk tea has a pH above 4.6, which makes it a low-acid food: for the USA the plant must register as a food canning establishment and file a scheduled process with the FDA for each product, container and process under 21 CFR 108, and process it to 21 CFR 113, and the same retort or aseptic discipline applies wherever it is packed. The packs are 180-250 ml and 330 ml cans, PET bottles and aseptic cartons, and the best-before date is set by the producer per product and pack and stated on the proforma. In the EU, drinks named as coffee or tea are exempt from the "high caffeine content" wording required above 150 mg/l for other drinks under Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, and in the UK milk-based drinks come into the Soft Drinks Industry Levy from January 2028. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 2202.99 total USD 13.64 billion across 122 reporters, led by Germany USD 1.58 billion, the Netherlands USD 1.09 billion, the USA USD 894 million, Thailand USD 839 million, Austria USD 669 million, the Republic of Korea USD 604 million, Mexico USD 600 million, Malaysia USD 183 million and Indonesia USD 121 million; that subheading also carries nectars, still energy drinks and other drinks, so those are declared export values, not offers.

The buyer is an importer-distributor, a convenience and vending operator, a supermarket private-label desk, or a foodservice and office coffee supplier. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers ready-to-drink tea and coffee from producers in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Türkiye, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Spain, Italy and the USA, in the producer's own brand or the buyer's private label; third-party brands come only from the brand owner or its authorised distributors, because parallel imports carry counterfeit, diversion and customs risks. Each lot carries the producer's certificate of analysis for caffeine, sugar, pH and commercial sterility, the origin authority's health certificate, and for dairy drinks the dairy ingredient declaration the destination requires, a certificate of origin and a halal certificate from a body the destination accepts, which reviews flavourings and their ethanol carriers against GSO 2538, emulsifiers and stabilisers, and the source of any dairy and gelatine. EU-bound drinks use only additives on the Union list of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008; Gulf labels follow GSO 9 with Arabic text and production and expiry dates; sweetened drinks for Saudi Arabia and the UAE fall under the sugar-based excise from 1 January 2026; and Saudi imports are registered with the SFDA by the importer. Trays and cartons move palletised in 20-ft or 40-ft dry containers on EXW, FCA, FOB, CFR and CIF terms, priced per tray or carton; pallets per container and minimum runs are confirmed per product and pack. Send the drink, dairy or non-dairy, sugar level, pack, label and discharge port, and the enquiry is screened and worked against it.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.