Text: Pan Xian
Is it a bet on the family, or the consumption of coffee in the office? Nestlé Nespresso (Chinese: Strong Coffee), which sold more than 40 billion yuan worldwide last year, recently showed a new "trump card" in China, hoping to give an answer - all.
XiaoDiandai learned that recently, this capsule coffee brand announced the launch of Nespresso Momento (hereinafter referred to as: Momento) a new commercial coffee machine series. The new series is mainly aimed at some self-service scenes in most offices and high-end hotels, such as banquets and executive lounges.
With the gradual recovery of normal office and travel, this also reflects that Nespresso wants to "get a bigger share" in China's B-end coffee industry. In an inquiry by the brand, the brand said that in terms of functionality and caffeine process, Momento is "very high-end" in the small and medium-sized machines on the market.
Let's take a look.
Models
According to reports, Momento launched three models in China this time, including two black coffee machine models single-head Momento100, double-ended Momento200, and Momento120, which can make fancy coffee such as lattes. The official retail prices of the three models are 15666, 26666 and 33666 yuan respectively. Among them, the highest priced Momento120 can make 5 black coffee and 12 milk coffee.
Like the Vertuo capsule coffee machine launched this year, Momento was only introduced to China after making achievements in mature foreign markets.
Nespresso told The Momento series was first tested in Switzerland and France two years ago and has since been gradually rolled out to major markets on all continents. In the Asia-Pacific region, Momento was first introduced in South Korea, one of the most mature markets for coffee drinking.
"Momento has become the most important model for commercial channels in South Korea, widely used in large office customers such as Samsung, LG, Wework and other large office customers and banquet scenes of five-star hotels." Nespresso said.
As for why the series is now being introduced to China, the brand points out that on the one hand, Momento's design and concept have been continuously optimized and reshaped in market feedback. For example, compared to its commercial coffee machines already available in China, the Momento series is equipped with app remote operation for the first time, helping to reduce contact in public areas in the post-pandemic era.
On the other hand, as Chinese consumers' coffee drinking habits mature, Nespresso also hopes to provide new experiences. In addition to the new commercial coffee machine, the small food generation has introduced, Nespresso also officially announced the Vertuo Fuxuan series coffee machine and supporting coffee capsules aimed at the demand for large cups in July this year.
B2B
Relying on the latest series of Momento, Nespresso's key strategy of adding code B in China also has more "ammunition".
Lin Shangming, general manager of Greater China of Strong Encounter Coffee, told Xiaoshidai last year that one of the brand's four strategic priorities is to increase brand building and layout in B2B channels, including high-star hotels, high-end restaurants and large offices.
He has said that whether it is retail products such as home coffee machines or products for B2B customers such as catering, it is Strong Coffee that hopes to accelerate its development at present, because the business of these two large markets is complementary. Some consumers may want to have the same experience when they consume outside because they originally have a Nespresso coffee machine at home, which has spawned the needs of B2B customers.
Although it has not disclosed its position in the B-end coffee market to the small food generation, nespresso B2B does have a certain imagination space if it is only referred to from the C-end situation.
According to Euromonitor data, in the past three years, in terms of sales, Nestlé Strong Coffee and Nestlé Dolce Gusto have ranked first and second in the Chinese capsule coffee machine market, accounting for more than 70% of the total, which is significantly different from the share of the third-ranked Jiuyang capsule coffee machine. For example, in 2020, the market share of Strong Coffee, Duo fun Kusi and Jiuyang will account for 43%, 33.2% and 8.3% respectively.
For the B-side, Xiaoshidai learned that Nespresso commercial solutions have also initially established a relatively complete product line in China, covering a variety of scenarios. Among them, the large coffee machine Aguila focuses on open offices, staff canteens, lobby bars of hotels, all-day dining restaurants, etc. Gemini is suitable for small and medium-sized companies in pantries and reception areas, hotel banquets, etc. The smallest Zenius is suitable for office meeting rooms, THE CEO's office, and hotel rooms.
So, in the case of remote work, travel and other cold situations, how does Nespresso view the prospects of B2B business? What kind of play will be adopted in the future?
The brand told The Small Food Generation that the B-end market has been greatly affected during the epidemic in 2020. However, since September last year, its China B-end business has begun to recover, and this year has now returned to the same period in 2019, and next year is expected to maintain a high double-digit year-on-year growth.
"Customer localization for hotel customers and flexible office hours for office customers are the new business normal we are facing. Although the overall consumption power of the B-side scene has yet to be restored, we found that in the commercial scenario of the post-epidemic era, the characteristics of capsule coffee make Nespresso more prominent in terms of food safety such as freshness and inventory management. Nespresso said.
Nespresso said that after the outbreak of the epidemic, the B2B business in China is rapidly adjusting its product portfolio on the one hand and further strengthening its stickiness with long-term partners, on the other hand, it is also accelerating the expansion of new customers in office channels. In the future, B2B will focus on increasing the penetration rate of high-end hotels and restaurants, and accelerating the development of large office customers.
40 billion
As one of the "pillars" of Nescafe's coffee business, Nespresso's performance after the epidemic has been quite eye-catching.
A review of Nestlé's 2020 financial report found that Nespresso's annual organic growth reached 7.0%, the highest increase in the past 6 years. By region, the Americas market and the AOA market, including Greater China, both achieved double-digit growth.
According to the financial report, Nespresso's sales in 2020 have reached 5.9 billion Swiss francs, or about 43.395 billion yuan. (Based on the 2020 weighted average annual exchange rate in the financial report, 100 yuan was converted into 13.596 Swiss francs in 2020).
During a fireside chat at JPMorgan Chase in May, Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider described Nespresso as "a great business that could't be happier with it."
He also pointed out that the success story of quantitative coffee (including coffee capsules, etc.) is far from over, and different brands at different price levels have huge opportunities, and behind it are the major technological advances and insights brought about by Nespresso's successful experience.
"In quantitative coffee, whether in terms of price, brand or features, it is difficult to find a company (like Nestlé) that can better capture various market segments, and we will do our best to develop this business." Schneider said.
To capture more growth opportunities, Nestlé has also announced a major Nespresso investment plan since last year, including an investment of CHF 160 million to expand the Production Center in Romont, Switzerland, and a CHF 117 million expansion of the Swiss Avenches Production Center. These investments are designed to meet the growing demand for high-quality coffee and support the development of international markets.