A non-dairy creamer produced by Nestle since 1961. It was apparently the first powdered non-dairy creamer on the market, and, according to Nestle, "soon established its position as America’s favorite non-dairy creamer". Faced with overwhelming success, in 1989 Nestle introduced Coffee-mate Lite and Coffee-mate Liquid. The liquid will keep for 14 days in the refrigerator once opened, but the powdered varieties have a shelf life of up to 2 years. Through the 1990s Nestle sought to further increase its share of the non-dairy creamer market by introducing flavoured creamers such as hazelnut, French vanilla, amaretto, and many more. Most types of Coffee-mate are available in regular, low fat, and fat free versions.
You might also be interested to know that coffee-mate is kosher, even though it contains an ingredient called sodium caseinate that is derived from milk. Through a process I don't even want to think about, milk is "so materially altered that both dairy scientists and government regulators no longer regard it as a true dairy substance", the website helpfully notes. It goes on to advise that "Sodium caseinate also is not a source of lactose."
In other exciting news, the American Tasting Institute - a private organization which is made up of 35,000 professional chefs who judge food service products and hold an annual awards ceremony at Carnegie Hall - have awarded Coffee-mate the prestigious "Gold Taste Award" in the non-dairy coffee creamer category, and several flavours got Best in Show in 2001, indicated by a medal reproduced on the product packaging.
Coffee-mate contains sugar, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (which may contain one or more of coconut, soybean, canola, palm, or cottonseed oils), sodium caseinate, dipotassium phosphate (which "moderates coffee acidity"), mono and diglycerides (which "prevents oil separation"), "natural" flavour (including salt), artificial flavours, and colouring agents. Liquid varieties have, as their first ingredient, water.
All this and more - including recipes - from http://www.coffee-mate.com/default.asp!!