The Swiss multinational Nestlé invented capsule coffee in 1986, although it wasn't until 2004 that the Nespresso system began to take off in Spain, becoming a common sight in every home. Despite having fought a significant battle to protect its patents, the brand has been imitated worldwide, and today its coffee machines are used by dozens of brands that have launched compatible capsules for sale in supermarkets. Nespresso remains faithful to its exclusive sales system through its network of own stores ---it has more than 800 in 84 countries---, but it is obvious that the market no longer grows at the same rate as before. In any case, fifteen years ago, capsules were a marginal business, but now they are the most important part of the pie thanks to the sector's transformation process led by Nespresso, which Nescafé Dolce Gusto, Nestlé's other major encapsulated coffee brand, also helped accelerate.
And now, when we all already had a Nespresso at home, comes Vertuo, a new system with which the Swiss group aims to revolutionize the sector again, and if successful, it will surely be imitated again. Vertuo uses different capsules and coffee machines than Nespresso and will be available in the brand's boutiques starting May 11. They are, therefore, two non-compatible systems, but they are intended to be complementary. Vertuo coffee machines use centrifugal force to infuse the coffee and, the other great novelty, is that there will not only be two capsule sizes (ristretto and lungo) but five: Espresso, Double Espresso, Gran Lungo, Mug, and Carafe, which allow making from a 40 ml cup to a 535 ml carafe, that is, more than half a liter of coffee with a single capsule.
The launch of the Carafe mega capsules (535 ml) ---which will be sold at 99 cents each--- is Nespresso's response to one of the most emerging trends in the sector: the rise of filter coffee. This brewing method, less aggressive than espresso machines, allows for a better tasting of different origins and varieties and is being promoted by the new wave of specialty coffee shops, which seek to promote a new culture among coffee lovers. Unlike an espresso, designed to be consumed quickly, filter coffee invites a calm tasting shared with other people.
In parallel, the other capsule sizes that Vertuo incorporates aim to conquer new consumption moments and also satisfy a very widespread demand among consumers: not everyone loves ristrettos; many prefer long coffees. According to Nespresso, 49% of the coffees consumed by Spanish households are in large cups (200 ml), and furthermore, 62% add milk. "Vertuo is an opportunity for broader coffee profiles and for those who like to innovate and enjoy different coffee styles, depending on the time of day and who they are with," explains the brand, whose director in Spain is Thomas Reuter. Nespresso, which manages its Spanish business from Barcelona, has set itself the goal that in five years the number of Vertuo users will equal that of its current customer base. The company would thus migrate a good part of its business to a system that, for now, offers it greater protection against competitors.
Along with the variety of sizes, the great innovation of Vertuo capsules is that they incorporate a barcode that allows the machine, thanks to a laser reading system, to identify what type of capsule has been inserted and to know what type of coffee it needs to prepare. Maximum simplification has been sought, so the consumer only has to press a button, as all the information is in the barcode. Once the start button is pressed, the coffee maker adjusts up to 50 extraction parameters (temperature, flow, water quantity...) to adapt to the specificities of that capsule.
In total, Vertuo arrives on the market with 27 coffee varieties and, in a first phase, two coffee machine models can be purchased, Vertuo Next and Vertuo Plus ---starting from 149 euros---, also manufactured by Krups and Delonghi. Both are equipped with a new technology that Nespresso has christened Centrifusion, a word resulting from the union of centrifugation and infusion. The Swiss group has invested seven years in this development, which is based on spinning the capsule and using centrifugal force to infuse the coffee. According to Nespresso, the main property that Centrifusion provides is that it allows obtaining coffees with a very consistent and generous crema.
"Nespresso opens, once again, a new era in the coffee universe. No other coffee extraction system applies centrifugal force to infuse it," highlights the company, which reminds that all capsules are made of aluminum, a fully recyclable material. Vertuo was launched in North America in 2014 and now arrives in Spain after having been introduced in 25 other countries.