Solo, the cult coffee brand known for pioneering coffee concentrate in the UK, will launch its new 500ml Ready-to-Go Espresso format nationally in over 400 Tesco stores and online on May 12th.
The rollout lands as the UK’s £279m ready-to-drink (RTD) category continues to grow. With much of the RTD coffee market leaning into sweet, milky formats, Solo is cutting through the noise with its stripped back, barista quality espresso built for at-home iced lattes and coffee cocktails.
The launch marks a major moment for Solo, taking its coffee concentrate – widely used across the hospitality industry – into the mainstream. While the RTD coffee category has long been dominated by sweet, single-serve canned formats – Solo offers a smarter alternative: a versatile, high quality, sugar free espresso designed for at home use. Once a ‘trade-only tool’, it’s now a fridge-door essential for the iced coffee generation – built for iced lattes, espresso martinis and quick caffeine fixes – no kit or queue required.
The Tesco rollout represents a wider shift in consumer behaviour, as demand for at-home iced coffee continues to rise. It also comes as the government considers extending the sugar tax to sweetened, milk-based drinks, a move that could impact many canned iced lattes and bottled frappés on supermarket shelves. With no added sugar or flavourings, Solo’s Ready-to-Go Espresso offers a cleaner, healthier alternative that’s well aligned with where the category is headed.
“We originally made this for the trade. But the time is now right to take it to the people” said Alex Foss Sims, co-founder of Solo. “This is specialty coffee without the theatre. No gear, no gimmicks, no queue. Just grab a glass, some ice, and go.”
Each 500ml carton makes up to 10 coffees – from iced lattes to espresso martinis – and delivers premium espresso-strength coffee with no added sugar, flavourings or other nonsense. The new format is also significantly more sustainable than single-serve alternatives, with each carton replacing 10 RTD cans or takeaway coffees.
Why it matters:
Built for Iced Coffee: The ideal base for at-home iced lattes, cold brews and more. Higher Quality: Specialty-grade beans cold brewed and concentrated for full flavour. More Value: 10+ serves per carton at a lower cost per cup than most RTDs or cafes. More Sustainable: Less packaging, less waste, more efficiency.
No Barista Required: Designed for fridge-door ease and everyday caffeine rituals. Stronger: Only 50ml needed per serve. 159mg caffeine per 100ml.
The Tesco listing signals a bigger play from Solo as it moves beyond its hospitality roots into grocery, DTC and convenience retail. Known for its irreverent tone and cult social following, the brand is actively rejecting traditional coffee industry cliches – no bean provenance lectures, no dull packaging, and positioning itself as the default choice for a new kind of coffee consumer: one who wants speed, intensity, and zero pretension.
To support the launch, Solo is also releasing a campaign film that parodies modern coffee culture – taking aim at single-origin snobbery, sleepy marketing, complicated brewing rituals and overpriced lattes. Solo co-founder Theo Garcia said: “The millennial era of earnest brand manifestos and taking yourself too seriously is becoming increasingly cringe. Pastels and purpose is out. Chaos and comedy is in.”
