Nespresso
Encyclopedia
Nespresso is the brand name of Nestlé Nespresso S.A., an operating unit of the Nestlé Group
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...

 based in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...

, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. Nespresso machines brew espresso
Espresso
Espresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Espresso is widely known throughout the world....

 from special capsules containing ground coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...

.

History

In 1976, Éric Favre, employee of Nestlé, invented, patented and introduced the system to the business market in Switzerland but without the expected success. In 1988, thanks to Jean-Paul Gaillard, the product became a market success. (Jean-Paul Gaillard is known as a business man, the inventor of «Le Club» community.) In 1990, the firm signed a contract with Turmix, which started to sell Nespresso machines in Switzerland. Thereafter, other contracts were signed with Krups
Krups
Krups is a German kitchen appliance manufacturer, named after its founder Robert Krups.It is often confused with the Krupp conglomerate.The company also produces a large variety of household appliances...

, Magimix, Alessi, Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....

 and De'Longhi.

The first patent application for Nespresso's process of brewing espresso from capsules containing ground coffee was filed in 1996.

The Nespresso Company manufactures both the machines and the capsules they use. Nespresso machines and their capsules can be bought in Nespresso stores, mail-order, or many other consumer appliance stores.

Machines

Nespresso offer a number of different machines for sale. The machines carry the brand names of well known kitchen equipment manufacturers such as Krups
Krups
Krups is a German kitchen appliance manufacturer, named after its founder Robert Krups.It is often confused with the Krupp conglomerate.The company also produces a large variety of household appliances...

, Magimix, Siemens
Siemens AG
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich, Germany. It is the largest Europe-based electronics and electrical engineering company....

, and DeLonghi
DeLonghi
De'Longhi Group, or De'Longhi S.p.A, is a major European small appliance manufacturer based in Treviso, Italy.- History and trading :...

, but mostly they are manufactured by the Swiss company Eugster/Frismag
Eugster/Frismag
Eugster/Frismag AG, headquartered in Romanshorn, Switzerland, is an OEM producer of home appliances, especially coffee machines which are sold under many well-known international brand names. Eugster/Frismag manufactures around 95% of all Nespresso machines as well as other machines for brands such...

, one of the world's largest coffee machine producers. Although based in Switzerland, Eugster/Frismag also manufactures in China under the Krups, Turmix, Delonghi and Magimix brands. Often Krups and Magimix store display models are "Made in Switzerland" (noted on the bottom of the machine)and others machines come from China. The Lattissima models are manufactured by DeLonghi. Eugster/Frismag is little known to the public because the company is strictly an original equipment manufacturer
Original Equipment Manufacturer
An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM, manufactures products or components that are purchased by a company and retailed under that purchasing company's brand name. OEM refers to the company that originally manufactured the product. When referring to automotive parts, OEM designates a...

. In 2000, Nespresso began distributing machines bearing the "Nespresso" brand.

In August 2011 Australian
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 brand Kogan
Kogan Technologies
Kogan Technologies is an Australian manufacturer and retailer of consumer electronics devices. The company, founded in 2006 by Ruslan Kogan, sells products direct from Asia to customers in Australia and the United Kingdom....

 announced they were developing the "Ez-press", a coffee machine compatible with Nespresso pods.

Capsules

Nespresso capsules are sold exclusively by Nespresso and are more expensive than portions of ground coffee purchased "loose".
The cost per serving is up to three times higher than that of alternative brewing methods.
Nespresso offer 16 different coffee "Grands Crus" arabica
Coffea arabica
Coffea arabica is a species of Coffea originally indigenous to the mountains of Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula, hence its name, and also from the southwestern highlands of Ethiopia and southeastern Sudan. It is also known as the "coffee shrub of Arabia", "mountain coffee" or "arabica coffee"...

 and robusta
Coffea canephora
Robusta coffee is a variety of coffee which has its origins in central and western sub-Saharan Africa. It is a species of flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family. Though widely known as Coffea robusta, the plant is scientifically identified as Coffea canephora, which has two main varieties -...

. Two Limited Edition Grand Crus are released every year as well as a new set of Variations, flavored espresso capsules. In 2009 the Variations flavors were Crème de marrons (Chestnut Cream), Apricot and Pain d’Épice (Gingerbread). In 2010 the Variations flavors were Vanilla, Caramel and Almond. The 2011 Variations flavours were Vanilla, Cherry and Dark Chocolate were released on 14th November.

Each capsule contains 5-6 grams of ground coffee and makes one cup of coffee. Depending on the length of the pour the capsule is designed for 40mL for an espresso shot, or 110mL for a lungo (long) pour. Refillable Nespresso-compatible capsules are manufactured by Dutch company Coffeeduck. They make two different refillable capsules; one for Nespresso machines made before October 2010 and one for machines made after October 2010 (after Nespresso changed the design of their machines). The refillable capsules are dishwasher safe, 'maintain the foam layer' and can also be used for loose leaf tea and various types of cocoa powder.

The capsule material and perforated top are both made of aluminum. For health reasons, the interior of most of the capsule is lined with food-grade shellac
Shellac
Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes , which are dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish...

.

The Dutch company Douwe Egberts
Douwe Egberts
Douwe Egberts is a Dutch corporation that processes and trades coffee, tea, and other groceries. Its full name is Douwe Egberts Koninklijke Tabaksfabriek-Koffiebranderijen-Theehandel NV, which translates as "Douwe Egberts Royal Tobacco Factory - Coffee Roasters - Tea Traders, Plc."...

 (a subsidiary of Sara Lee) has launched a coffee capsule compatible with Nespresso machines in the US.. Unlike the Nespresso capsules , these "L'or expressO" capsules are made out of plastic instead of aluminium, and unlike the Nespresso capsule these are not perforated in the top while inserting them in the machine but are pre-perforated, and so the capsule is not airtight. Therefore the capsules come separately packaged, each in their own airtight bag, probably filled with an inert gas. Douwe Egberts recently added 2 new varieties of these coffees, there now are six.
Just like Douwe Egberts , so Caffe Vergnana , a well known italian coffee blender, launched their own branded ÈSPRESSO
Espresso
Espresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Espresso is widely known throughout the world....

 compatible capsules made of plastic, individually packaged and started with 4 varieties. It was first launched in European market, in selected countries such as Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal. the price is much more affordable and can be easily found on EBAY for sale.

Process

Nespresso's hermetically sealed
Hermetic seal
A hermetic seal is the quality of being airtight. In common usage, the term often implies being impervious to air or gas. When used technically, it is stated in conjunction with a specific test method and conditions of usage.-Etymology :...

 capsules are made of aluminium foil
Aluminium foil
Aluminium foil is aluminium prepared in thin metal leaves, with a thickness less than , thinner gauges down to are also commonly used. In the USA, foils are commonly gauged in mils. Standard household foil is typically thick and heavy duty household foil is typically .The foil is pliable, and...

.
When the capsule is inserted into the machine, the top of the capsule is pierced. Some machines make a single large hole, and others make a number of smaller holes. When the machine is activated it pumps in hot water under high pressure. This causes the flat bottom of the capsule to bow out, as this is made of thinner foil than the rest of the capsule. The base of the capsule holder (on which the capsule sits) has a number of raised squares which cause the foil to rupture at these points. The brewed coffee exits the capsule through these rupture holes and flows into the coffee cup. There is a pressure release valve inside the brewing chamber which prevents an explosion occurring if the coffee exhaust path becomes blocked.

The spent capsule must finally be removed from the holder; on some machines this is automated.

Marketing

Social media, such as Facebook has been used to promote the product in the form of an interactive Facebook page and celebrities, such as George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...

 and John Malkovich
John Malkovich
John Gavin Malkovich is an American actor, producer, director and fashion designer with his label Technobohemian. Over the last 25 years of his career, Malkovich has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures. For his roles in Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire, he received Academy Award...

, have been used to market the product. The brand's current slogan
Slogan
A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a political, commercial, religious and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose. The word slogan is derived from slogorn which was an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic sluagh-ghairm . Slogans vary from the written and the...

 is What else?
The brand Nespresso is the subject of continued promotional campaigns around the world. Promotions include bonus coffee capsules sold with the machine.

Market

Packaged portions of espresso coffee like those from Nespresso has become one of the fastest growing segments of the coffee market, accounting for 20 to 40 percent of the value of ground coffee sales in the European coffee market which totals USD 17 billion.

In August 2010, it was reported that Nespresso sales have been growing at an average of 30 percent per year over the past 10 years and more than 20 billion capsules have been sold since 2000 at a current selling price equivalent to about USD 0.43 to USD 0.62 per capsule.

Cost

Officially, Nespresso does not allow customers to purchase coffee capsule from other sources. As a result, choice of flavours is limited and there is limited competitive downward pressure on capsule prices. Nespresso seeks to position the brand as an exclusive luxury good. Even so, the price of capsules in 2011 ranged from US$0.57 to $0.64 each, which on a cost-per-cup basis compares favorably with any restaurant or coffee shop. In March 2011, the Swiss discount supermarket, Denner, won a court battle with Nestlé over the sale of Nespresso compatible capsules. The plastic capsules are approximately half the retail price as the genuine Nespresso capsules.

Business model

The concept (machine, capsule, service) is protected by 70 patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

s which protects Nespresso's ownership of the concept until the patents expire. This contrasts with some other prepackaged coffee preparation systems. This has led to comparisons of Nespresso with printer manufacturers that tried to hinder the sale of generic ink cartridges. However, neither the machine nor the capsules can be considered generic until the patents expire.

Nespresso's patents will begin to expire in 2012, eventually allowing competitors to offer capsules and machines compatible with the Nespresso system. Nestlé is working on ways to prevent competitors from doing this.

An ex-manager at Nespresso has started a rival firm, Ethical Coffee (ECC), to make pods for the Nespresso machine.

Other competitors include a Swiss start-up (Nexpod.ch) which is offering Nespresso-compatible empty capsules which can be filled with the coffee (or tea) by the buyer, Caps-cup from Hong Kong that provide compatible capsules in bulk and a South African company which sells Nespresso-compatible capsules under the brand name Café-Caps.

In mid-July 2010, Sara Lee
Sara Lee
Sara Lee Corporation is a global consumer-goods company based in Downers Grove, Illinois, USA. It has operations in more than 40 countries and sells its products in over 180 nations worldwide...

 in France, which makes coffee under the "Maison de Café
Douwe Egberts
Douwe Egberts is a Dutch corporation that processes and trades coffee, tea, and other groceries. Its full name is Douwe Egberts Koninklijke Tabaksfabriek-Koffiebranderijen-Theehandel NV, which translates as "Douwe Egberts Royal Tobacco Factory - Coffee Roasters - Tea Traders, Plc."...

" brand, launched L'OR EspressO which uses a plastic capsule that fits both espresso machines sold by Sara Lee and the Nespresso system. In August 2010, it is reported that, according to Sara Lee, more than 30 million capsules of L'Or are sold since launch. Nestlé has sued Sara Lee, accusing the latter of contravening its patents. In December, Sara Lee announced that they would start selling their capsules in the US under the Douwe Egberts name.
In mid 2011, Sara Lee started selling it's compatible capsules in other countries, such as Spain where they are sold under the "Marcilla" brand.

Ecological Impact

Criticisms have been raised regarding the ecological implications of Nespresso. In terms of ecological impact, each cup of Nespresso coffee produces aluminum waste, the main material of the capsule. There is 1g of aluminum in one capsule (including the cover) compared to about 13g for a soft drink can. Recycling aluminum represents energy savings of up to 95% in comparison with the production of primary aluminum. To begin with, Nestlé did not implement recycling programs outside of a few parts of Switzerland. This led to a large per-cup waste generation, and some user groups have criticized this. Some consumers empty out used capsules and put the aluminum capsules in their recycling waste. Now, however, many more countries have recycling facilities. France and Switzerland are some of Nespresso's biggest buyers so the recycling facilities are a lot more accessible in these countries. Currently there is a UK recycling trial being done by Nespresso in London, Bristol and Bath where when the courier delivers your capsules, you have the option for them to pick up your used ones for recycling. As well as this, they can be taken to the Beauchamp Place Boutique in Knightsbridge, London to be recycled, or the Selfridges store in the Bullring, Birmingham. The recycling program has also been introduced in The Netherlands, where consumers have the option to return their used capsules to a limited selection of stores or hand them over to postal services. In the USA and Australia, consumers can drop off used capsules at Nespresso boutiques for recycling.

The ecological footprint
Ecological footprint
The ecological footprint is a measure of human demand on the Earth's ecosystems. It is a standardized measure of demand for natural capital that may be contrasted with the planet's ecological capacity to regenerate. It represents the amount of biologically productive land and sea area necessary to...

 of a Nespresso coffee is more important than other steps in preparation (decoction, infusion, filtration, percolation) because of their packaging in capsules. A minority of capsules are recycled
Recycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...

: Nestle states a current rate of 50% in Switzerland and Germany, but only 2% in France. The proportion of recycled aluminum in the capsules is not exactly known, but is estimated to be less than 30%. The company has launched a program called "écolaboration" to try to remedy the problem.

In addition to the recycling programme discussed above, Nespresso states 'ecolaboration' includes a AAA sustainability programme, focused on helping farmers who grow and supply Nespresso coffee. Nespresso claims it does this by teaching farmers best business and growing practices. The company claims participating farmers are not obliged to sell to Nespresso, although the company says many choose to as Nespresso claims to offer a fair price for the coffee and help in all aspects of the farmers' business.

Unlike the regular capsules, Nespresso Pro capsules cannot be recycled because they are made of a mixture of plastic and aluminum. Since the layers of material are sealed to each other, the Pro capsule can only be burned. This has led the World Wide Fund for Nature
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...

 and other environmental agencies to state that "the most reasonable solution is still the purchase of bulk coffee".

See also

  • Delta Cafés
    Delta Cafés
    Delta Cafés , officially named Novadelta - Comércio e Indústria de Cafes, S.A., is a Portuguese coffee roasting and coffee packaging company headquartered in Campo Maior, Alentejo. The company was founded in 1961 and is among the top market leaders in the Iberian Peninsula...

  • Lavazza
    Lavazza
    Luigi Lavazza S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of coffee products. Founded in Turin in 1895 by Luigi Lavazza, it was initially run from a small grocery store at Via San Tommaso 10. The business of Lavazza S.p.A. is currently administered by the third and fourth generation of the Lavazza family.-...

  • Flavia
  • Handpresso
    Handpresso
    Handpresso SARL is a French manufacturer of portable espresso machines. Founded in Fontainebleau in 2006 by Henrik Nielsen as a spin-off from Nielsen Innovation SARL. Handpresso has created and patented the World's first handheld espresso maker, Handpresso WILD ESE, which is sold in 25 countries....

  • Espresso
    Espresso
    Espresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Espresso is widely known throughout the world....

  • Keurig
    Keurig
    Keurig is a Reading, Massachusetts-based coffee machine manufacturing company, known for its K-Cup single-serving brewing system.- Company :Keurig was founded in 1992 by Olaf Keurig...

  • Senseo
    Senseo
    Senseo is a registered trademark for a coffee brewing system from Dutch companies Philips and Douwe Egberts, a subsidiary of Sara Lee Corporation...

  • Tassimo
    Tassimo
    The Tassimo Hot Beverage System is a consumer coffee machine that prepares one-cup servings of espresso, regular coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and various other coffee drinks, notably those including milk such as latte or cappuccino....

  • Caffitaly
    Caffitaly
    The Caffitaly System is a capsule system for making espresso and other coffee drinks in home espresso machines...

     (Caffita)
  • Saeco
    Saeco
    Saeco is an Italian manufacturer of espresso machines and other electrical goods, head quartered near Bologna.-History:The company was founded by Sergio Zappella and Arthur Schmed in 1981....


External links

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