Nestle’s capsule coffee brand Nescafe Dolce Gusto is pushing past preconceptions that capsules only offer black espresso with its 2017 Creative Coffee Campaign, as it aims to increase penetration in the Korean market.

At a press conference at Nescafe’s Itaewon branch Tuesday, Nestle’s Coffee Creator Ola Persson gave demonstrations about how the espresso created with Nescafe’s Dolce Gusto machines could be infused with fruit or topped with syrups to create quality drinks at home.

Persson, who is responsible for creating the coffee blends that go into the Dolce Gusto capsules, said that the quality espresso produced by the Dolce Gusto machines allowed consumers to be more creative with their coffee.

“You can focus on other things because it’s like you have your own barista at home, making your coffee perfect every time,” he said as he poured an espresso over a mix of chili and orange zest. “The capsules are sealed so that there is no oxygen coming in. It’s always fresh coffee.”

Dolce Gusto is the only capsule coffee brand in Korea that currently offers a range of capsules including those for expressos, Americanos, latte macchiatos, tea lattes and chococcinos, according to Nescafe. 

“I truly believe that once Korean consumers really understand the system and really experience it on their own, they will understand the advantage of having the system,” said Maria Teresa Mendes, business executive officer for Nescafe Dolce Gusto at Nestle Korea, saying that she believed the Korean market could become as “big” as countries where capsule coffee has already surpassed soluble instant coffees.

Since Dolce Gusto began selling its machines here in 2010, the brand has sold more than 1 million machines. Mendes declined to name any specific sales goals for this year citing internal policy, but she said that the brand was aiming for “double-digit growth” to put more machines in households.

“We’ll have to make sure that consumers can access our products everywhere. The beauty of the Korean market is that online is so important ... we are able to reach everyone through online and offline channels,” she said. 

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)