The first powdered creamer to hit supermarkets in 1952 was called Pream. Carnation food scientists were asked to come up with something better six years later.
Two companies long associated with the dairy industry now make powdered coffee whiteners or creamers: Carnation makes Coffee-Mate which launched in 1961 and Borden’s makes Cremora which launched in the autumn 1963.
The first Nestle nondairy instant creamer Coffee-Mate was produced in Glendale by California’s Nestle. Coffee-Mate needed no refrigeration and half a spoonful or more could be added to black coffee to whiten it and alter the coffee’s taste.
Carnation’s Coffee-Mate is the top selling nondairy powdered creamer. Its major branded competitor is Cremora. With the slowdown in coffee consumption in the late 1980s, however; Coffee-Mate executives began acting with the freneticism of people high on caffeine. New Lite Coffee-Mate was followed in quick succession by liquid and fat free.
Carnation's Coffee-Mate
