Nestle’s Nespresso, which launched in 1986 before experiencing record profits throughout the pandemic, is now looking to tap into a new market. According to FoodDive’s Christopher Doering, the company is looking to attract “Gen Z and others wanting to learn about coffee” via “immersive” coffee boutiques, which will be opening throughout the U.S. this year and next. The first boutique opened in Austin, Texas earlier this month and a Seattle location is planned for later this year.
Doering writes that the boutiques, “which contain interactive experiences tied to coffee and the Nespresso system” are also looking to prioritize sustainability and will include four main components: “a taste and discovery area,” a coffee theater, a recycling center and a coffee bar (complete with “lounge space”).
“Today’s consumers are looking for more meaningful connections. They are looking for more meaningful experiences,” said Alfonso Gonzales Loeschen, the CEO of Nespresso North America. “What we’re looking for is to hopefully capture new audiences and have them come in and discover what Nespresso is and what coffee can be.”
Gonzalez Loeschen also says that the boutiques “will give Nespresso ‘an advantage’ over it competitors,” noting to Doering that “it will continue to build our coffee credentials, our coffee expertise, or coffee quality of differentiation that we have versus the competitive set.”