Nestle enters appliances category

NEW DELHI: Nestle has entered the consumer-facing small appliances category to fuel coffee consumption and push one of its mainstay brands, Nescafe, the company said on Wednesday. It is in the process of launching app-based coffee machines, which will be sold through non-FMCG distribution channels as well.

Addressing the media at a roundtable at its Gurugram headquarters on Wednesday, Nestle India chairman Suresh Narayanan said: “We are seeing a surge of speciality coffee outlets, and coffee consumption is growing specially among millennial consumers.”

The company said India is among its first few markets to begin retailing the smartphone-connected machines.


On the India impact of the global $7.15 billion Nestle-Starbucks licensing deal, which was concluded last month, Narayanan said it would pan out in India as well, though not in the immediate term. The licensing deal grants the Swiss food giant the right to market Starbucks’ packaged coffees and teas around the world, including Starbucks, Seattle’s Best Coffee and Teavana.