History
In 1975 Eric Favre, an employee of Nestlé, noticed that a coffee bar near the Pantheon in Rome had a disproportionately large number of customers. He found that the only difference between that bar and the many others using the same machines was that operators pumped the piston many times before releasing the coffee, while others did so only once. Oxidization occurs as the pumping action pushes water and air into the ground coffee. This increases the flavor in the coffee and creates the foam seen on top, called crema.[7]
Favre invented the Nespresso system. The pod containing the coffee was sealed, keeping it fresh. In use it ensured greater aeration, like the repeated pumping Favre had noticed. In operation, a sharp-pointed spout pierces the capsule and injects pressurised hot water, forcing the foil against a spiked plate which burst it inwards, letting the espresso flow out of the spout.
The system was patented by Nestlé in 1976. Early prototypes were complicated machines with large tanks, pumps and tubes – the machine remained unfit to market for a decade. It was first introduced to the Swiss market, looking like large traditional commercial espresso machines, initially with slow success. Nespresso first tested its new concept in Japan in 1986, and rolled it out to consumers in Switzerland, France, Italy and Japan the same year.[5] A decade later, in part due to the efforts of Jean-Paul Gaillard, who introduced the Le Club community—providing Nestlé with a large database of customers and their preferences[8]—reduced prices of machines but increased capsule prices, changed the machine from an office machine into a luxury brand now available to consumers, and licensed production by other companies,[9] the product became more successful. In 1990, Nestlé signed a contract with Turmix, which started to sell Nespresso machines in Switzerland. Thereafter, other contracts were signed with Krups, Magimix, Alessi, Philips, Siemens and De'Longhi. Starting out as an e-commerce business, Nespresso only opened their first boutique in Paris in 2000 as a concept store.[10] Today, Nespresso has a global network of more than 802 boutiques in 515 cities.[11]
In later years there was friction between Favre—who devised the concept and developed the first machines—and Gaillard, who made the machine a commercial success. Favre resigned in 1990 after personality clashes, and the two men were critical of each other.[9] Gaillard left Nestlé in 1997 after falling out with CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe. He claimed that the original idea for Nespresso was bought by Nestlé in 1973, and did not come from Favre, though Nespresso denies this. In 2008 Gaillard launched a company that sold biodegradable capsules for Nespresso machines, competing with Nespresso.[9]
In 2022, Nespresso became a certified B Corporation.[12]
