The Nescafe Story
Nescafe’s early-bird advantage
Nestle’s marquee brand has maintained its leadership in the instant coffee market even in its 50th year in India
The campaign in 2007...
SOUNAK MITRA
New Delhi, 6 January
“T
he coffee with life in it. Made in just 5 seconds”. That’s how
Nescafe announced its entry into
India, in 1963. Before the ad campaign hit bill-boards across the country, Indian coffee lovers were stuck with the idea that coffee is something that takes minute attention to prepare and cannot be instant.
Nestle changed that thinking forever — as it did elsewhere in the world much earlier in 1938 — which is evident from the fact that more than 4,600 cups of Nescafe, the world’s first commercial instant coffee, are being consumed every second.
Year 2013 is an important milestone for
Nescafe in India as it completes 50 years in a country which took time to warm up to the idea of instant coffee.
Development of Nescafe
In 1930, Brazil had a huge surplus of coffee that needed to be preserved. But there was no way out. The then Brazilan government ended up approaching Vervey-based food company Nestle to find a way out. There was no instant solution. Eight years later – in 1938 — Nestle came up with an instant product mix – Nescafe — that became the second most recognised brand in the world only after Coca-Cola.
Interestingly, processing instant coffee was not a new idea. In 1901, it was actually invented by Satori Kato, a Japanese scientist working in Chicago. Though a handful of companies tried to market it, they
... and now
could not make it a success.
Max Morgenthaler, a coffee specialist working with Nestlé during the 1930s, developed a new process for dehydrating the concentrated coffee that entails spraying a fine mist of the solution into a heated tower where the droplets turned to powder almost instantly, keeping the original flavour of the coffee. And the result of a seven-year research — Nescafe — became an
Nestle’s marquee brand has maintained its leadership in the instant coffee market even in its 50th year in India
The campaign in 2007...
SOUNAK MITRA
New Delhi, 6 January
“T
he coffee with life in it. Made in just 5 seconds”. That’s how
Nescafe announced its entry into
India, in 1963. Before the ad campaign hit bill-boards across the country, Indian coffee lovers were stuck with the idea that coffee is something that takes minute attention to prepare and cannot be instant.
Nestle changed that thinking forever — as it did elsewhere in the world much earlier in 1938 — which is evident from the fact that more than 4,600 cups of Nescafe, the world’s first commercial instant coffee, are being consumed every second.
Year 2013 is an important milestone for
Nescafe in India as it completes 50 years in a country which took time to warm up to the idea of instant coffee.
Development of Nescafe
In 1930, Brazil had a huge surplus of coffee that needed to be preserved. But there was no way out. The then Brazilan government ended up approaching Vervey-based food company Nestle to find a way out. There was no instant solution. Eight years later – in 1938 — Nestle came up with an instant product mix – Nescafe — that became the second most recognised brand in the world only after Coca-Cola.
Interestingly, processing instant coffee was not a new idea. In 1901, it was actually invented by Satori Kato, a Japanese scientist working in Chicago. Though a handful of companies tried to market it, they
... and now
could not make it a success.
Max Morgenthaler, a coffee specialist working with Nestlé during the 1930s, developed a new process for dehydrating the concentrated coffee that entails spraying a fine mist of the solution into a heated tower where the droplets turned to powder almost instantly, keeping the original flavour of the coffee. And the result of a seven-year research — Nescafe — became an