Nestlé desires to combat with its favourite espresso store — and can make investments R$ 300 million in Brazil for that

Swiss company launches Nescafé Dolce Gusto Neo, technological and sustainable coffee maker; Brazil is the first country to receive a novelty considered to be Nestlé’s main bet in the coffee segment since the launch of capsules in 2006

The pandemic has shaken the industry’s modus operandi around the world, and that’s nothing new. The remnants of this period, however, continue to impose challenges on companies that go beyond the financial or communication agenda. Now, the need is also to make use of ways to attract a consumer thirsty for experiences, demand repressed as a result of years in social isolation and circulation impositions.

The Swiss multinational’s bet Nestlé, in this scenario, is for recreating this type of social experience, albeit from the comfort of home. For this, the company launched this week the Nescafe Dolce Gusto Neoits newest machine in the line of coffee machines of the brand dedicated to coffee in capsules, which today is the market leader both in Brazil and in Europe — according to Nestlé, one in three capsule coffees in the world are from the brand🇧🇷

What’s new in the machine?

The coffee maker makes use of high tech attributes to unite two main points: fast and personalized preparation. An algorithmic reading system identifies small dots (a kind of watermark) that tell the type of coffee capsule and, consequently, determines the required amount of water and temperature for brewing. There are, in all, four different types of extraction for coffee in capsules, preparing five types of drinks, from the traditional espresso to “American coffee” – the latter in a licensed partnership with the Starbucks brand.

But the consumer can also personalize his drink with the help of an application in which he dictates his preferences in the preparation of each recipe. The app and the machine “talk” through Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology.

Amid the growing appeal for ESG, an acronym that synthesizes the donation of social, environmental and governance criteria, Nestlé is also trying to trust the relevance of sustainability among the criteria for choosing coffee lovers.

Neo takes this to heart. Half of the machine’s components are recyclable, with raw materials such as aluminum and second-life plastic. Still, the company’s promise is an out-of-the-curve durability for devices in this niche, with a minimum warranty of 10 years.

The big highlight, however, is in the capsules. Also sustainable, they are made from certified paper and biodegradable, that is, it disintegrates naturally in home composters or through chemical reactions within a period of up to six months. The raw material is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an NGO dedicated to the subject.

The capsule challenge

The step is big. Currently, plastic capsules are considered the main villains in the plot in favor of sustainability in the coffee chain, especially with regard to the market for electric and homemade coffee makers.

The challenge lies in contradicting this logic by bringing to the market a solution that is more friendly to nature and that advocates the end of beverage waste. “We usually say that today the drain is the main consumer of coffee in the world. It is a product wasted to the fullest by us. Therefore, we have tried for a long time to show that capsules, made to the exact measure of consumption, can be the most sustainable solution for the future”, said Thaissara Martins, ESG leader for coffee and beverages at Nestlé Brazil.

The novelty was presented to EXAME during a visit to the Nestlé innovation and technology center in the city of Orbe, Switzerland. The city has been home to tests for the product for the last five years, a job that involved at least 40 direct employees and countless collaborators from academia and startups in the region – all allocated to an internal accelerator.

Why Brazil?

O Brazilian market will be the first to test — and commercialize — the new product, which will be officially released in the first week of December. The country was chosen by the company based on a careful assessment that began with an internal survey.

The company conducted a study of its Brazilian coffee consumer base. The objective was to understand in depth the main desires of this audience and, in exchange, to envision some paths for the future. The result was a series of indicators that proved the relevance of topics related to customization and sustainability among Brazilian coffee consumers, especially younger ones.

According to the survey, 47% of Nescafé Dolge Gusto shoppers still consider plastic capsules to be a huge problem🇧🇷 The perfect marriage with the lowest environmental impact proposal brought by the new Neo.

On the other hand, the direct relationship between Brazil and the production of coffee for the Swiss company also played a role in the decision. Much of the coffee that gives rise to the small capsules comes from the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, from farms that already have 100% of their production considered sustainable.

In addition, all paper capsules will be produced at the company’s factory in Montes Claros, also in Minas Gerais, a plant that has already received the Triple Zero seal, the highest standard in the adoption of sustainable standards such as carbon neutralization and waste management — the company’s first in the world to achieve the feat. Making industrial production lines friendly to the new technology will require the company to invest in 300 million reais in the country🇧🇷

To complete, Brazil maintains the most important e-commerce brand globally.

“The whole journey that we have followed so far has made Brazil a wise and obvious choice. It’s a conversation we’ve had for years, and that was only possible thanks to the appeal for sustainability, from the factory to consumers looking for innovation”, said Tiago Buischi, responsible for the marketing area of ​​Nescafé Dolce Gusto in Brazil.

With no release forecast in other markets, the machine and sustainable capsules will be sold exclusively in Brazil at this first moment.

Fight with Starbucks?

The launch comes on the heels of the coffee shops’ success within the wider out-of-home food market. The establishments are responsible for 66 of the 279 million Swiss francs (something like 296 million dollars) moved by the sector in 2021, an increase of 7.8% compared to the result of 2015. In comparison, the entire market grew by only 2, 7% in the last six years.

“Staying relevant in this market is something that requires innovation. If we don’t think about the future and technology, we are left behind”, says Arnaud Deschamps, global vice president of Nescafé Dolge Gusto.

In this scenario, strategic alliances should help. Since 2017, the company has partnered with the Starbucks coffee chain in a licensing agreement that allows Nestlé to stamp the partner’s logo on some products. Now, the launch of Neo is also accompanied by a capsule that displays the brand of the American network.

In general, according to Deschamps, this is the Nestlé’s biggest bet on the coffee market since the creation of Nescafé Dolce Gustoin 2006. The brand arrived in Brazil three years later.

“This is the future. A future that will not be possible without the perfect union of sustainability and technology,” she says. “We look forward to the launch in Brazil and to understand how we will use these months of learning to determine the strategy going forward.”

Source: Exam