Jacques Demont, Managing Director of Nespresso Canada, talks about Canadian consumers’ coffee habits and explains how Nespresso has changed them over the last 8 years.
How has Nespresso developed in Canada since the opening of the first boutique in 2006?
Nespresso Canada started in 2006 with the opening of our Montreal boutique bar. It was a huge success and it highly contributed to increasing Nespresso brand awareness. Nespresso has had very strong growth in Québec over the past years. We partnered quickly with The Hudson's Bay, one of the key retail players here, a Canadian institution with a rich history. This partnership allowed us to bring our products to local consumers in all the Hudson's Bay stores and also highly contributed to the Nespresso visibility. At the moment we are focused on expanding in Ontario where we see great potential. We’ll also expand into Western Canada. I’m very proud to be part of the expansion of Nespresso and to offer Canadians our exceptional coffee experiences.
How would you describe the Canadian coffee culture? Has Nespresso contributed to change or evolve it?
There is a paradox here, because Canada is part of North America and its long filtered coffee tradition. But at the same time, Canadian consumers are increasingly becoming coffee connoisseurs, with similar habits to European consumers. Coffee drinking habits are changing. In fact the real difference is between Québec and the rest of Canada. Québec is the most European province of Canada. That is the reason why there are more real espresso lovers there. We can observe a strong cultural change in the way people are consuming coffee. Today, espresso consumers represent 10% of coffee drinkers in Canada, which is mostly due to Nespresso. People have started to seek out highest quality coffee at home. They are increasingly looking to portioned coffee machines to create barista-quality coffee at home in an easy way. The growth potential is huge as the market for home espresso machines is growing 3.5 times faster than the coffee market as a whole. Now 41% of Canadian households have a single-serve machine at home and the in-home consumption has considerably increased.
How are consumers responding to Nespresso?
The Nespresso fans and Club Members are very appreciative of our brand experience and they say so on social media. It’s very interesting to see how consumers are becoming our best ambassadors.
Nespresso has recently opened its first Canadian flagship boutique in Toronto. Why now?
The majority of our clients was in Québec, as it was historically the first region to seek espresso-based coffee rituals. As the Ontario market is increasingly embracing the espresso culture, we want to bring our brand closer to local consumers. In addition, we can count on four boutiques-in-mall (Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto, Québec) and more than 600 points of sales across Canada. We are also seing a solid growth in online sales. The B2B is also growing and presenting interesting growth opportunities that we’ll be able to tackle with the introduction of the Aguila machine at the beginning of 2014.
The location of the new Toronto flagship boutique is a former movie theatre. Why did Nespresso choose this location?
We chose Yorkville because it is a well-recognised neighbourhood with international appeal and a rich culture that pairs well with the Nespresso brand. In addition, this building offered us the space we required for both a Nespresso boutique and a bar. The space was transformed with two-storey ceilings, a glass façade and wrapped in beautiful wood structures and gold accents.
Capsule recycling has been introduced in Canada this year. How are consumers responding to this initiative?
We are currently increasing the number of collection points thanks to the support of our retail partner, the Hudson Bay group. We’ve also implemented a recycling station in our Toronto boutique bar. Sustainability and recycling are key subjects here in Canada. The population is very concerned by the environment and we’re dedicated to increasing our recycling initiatives.
What is the outlook for Nespresso Canada in 2014?
The outlook is positive, as we see the increase in consumer demand. We plan to expand the brand’s presence into western Canada with new boutique openings in Calgary and Vancouver in the first half of 2014. We will continue focusing on offering excellent service to our consumers whatever the channel and ensure that they have an exceptional Nespresso experience.
