Nestlé has launched its Nespresso brand in India to meet “increasing consumer demand” for single-serve coffee, it said today (25 April).
The Swiss giant said India was one of its fastest-growing coffee markets as in-home consumption increases.
Nespresso will be available in e-commerce channels and a branded “boutique” in Delhi. Further bricks-and-mortar stores are planned for other Indian cities.
The launch will start with a core Nespresso range “with the ambition to expand”, Nestlé told Just Drinks.
Asked about potential channel expansion, the spokesperson said: “Nespresso’s business model is direct to consumer and that is the approach we’ll take in India as well.”
Nespresso coffees and machines (both the brand's at-home design and its professional machine) are due to be available by the end of 2024.
Suresh Narayanan, the managing director of the company's business in India, said: “In recent years, coffee consumption in India has seen a surge, with a discernible trend towards in-home consumption.
“With its growing young population that has exposure to global trends and is open to new experiences, India is one of the fastest-growing coffee markets for Nestlé.”
Nespresso CEO Guillaume Le Cunff added: “Having sourced green coffee from India since 2011, I am excited to see the brand continuing to grow in this promising coffee market.”
Nestlé said it works with more than 2,000 farmers in India to source coffee for Nespresso. Its products are manufactured in its three factories in Switzerland.
The brand is available in over 90 markets and has more than 800 so-called boutiques in 500 cities.
In 2023, Nestlé’s coffee subsidiary generated SFr6.4bn ($7.2bn), growing organically 5.3% on the year prior.
The move in India follows further coffee investment in Asia this year as Nestlé announced plans for a $100m expansion of its production site in Vietnam.
The money will be used to double the processing capacity of the company’s coffee lines at its Tri An factory in the south-eastern province of Dong Nai.
Meanwhile in the UK, Nestlé last month opened an on-premise venture for Nespresso.
The first Nespresso Bar will open in London with further venues planned “at a later date”.
Nestlé opened two Nespresso coffee shops in London in 2016 and 2017. The Swiss giant closed the outlets in 2019 to focus on its retail outlets, which sell Nespresso’s coffee pods and machines. The business operates 25 retail outlets in the UK, with ten in London.
The Nestlé subsidiary launched its first takeaway coffee at stores in New York and in Cannes in France in 2017. In November 2023, Nespresso launched a similar ‘Nespresso to go’ concept at its Gran Vía boutique store in Madrid, Spain.
