How Nespresso turned coffee pods into a high-class business

    So other strictly-coffee companies haven't affected your business at all?

    RG: I would actually like to say thank you to these people, especially Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500), who made the pedagogy of the coffee taste. But now people everywhere want quality, especially in the US.

    Do you have competitors who are making similar coffee makers?

    RG: We have some, especially in Europe. We define 31 competitors worldwide. Two main ones are Senseo and Kraft (KFT, Fortune 500) -- each one has a portion of the market. They're selling a good product, but when the consumer wants the best in class, in terms of taste, and in terms of choice, they choose Nespresso.

    And people can really taste the difference between the different capsules?

    RG: If I can speak personally, I drink only the Arpeggio. My wife hates it. She loves the Volluto, and she drinks only this one. You have a choice -- you are totally free to choose your coffee. You offer something that no competitor can offer.

    FL: My wife and I, as well, we are totally different. Ninety-five percent of the time, we are totally sure that you will like two or three capsules. Then your partner can like different capsules.

    How do you expand into markets where there isn't already a coffee culture?

    RG: They will come to the coffee taste. If you go to Asia for example, there's a tea culture. But if you use the US as an example, when they come to coffee, they will very quickly come to the finest one. So they come to us.

    You need time to come with Nespresso to love Nespresso. The most important thing to us is developing the culture. We are not going to the middle of nowhere China where it will take too long to learn the taste, but clearly you have to give it time.