India’s coffee culture is undergoing a remarkable transformation—from traditional morning brews to premium café-style and at-home experiences. In an exclusive conversation with BW Businessworld, Sunayan Mitra, Director – Coffee & Beverages, Nestlé India, shares insights into how Nestlé is fuelling this evolution through innovation, sustainability, and premiumisation. From expanding its Nescafe portfolio to introducing Nespresso’s retail experience in India, the company is redefining how Indians connect with coffee—at home, on the go, and in cafés.
In recent years, Indian consumers have increasingly embraced premium at-home coffee experiences. How has Nestlé tapped into this trend, and what role do you see it playing in shaping the future of the coffee market in India?
Coffee is rapidly evolving beyond being just a beverage. It is now considered an experience, contributing to the growing café culture across India. However, the coffee experience is not restricted only to cafés. Consumers are actively seeking both in-home and out-of-home coffee experiences, showing increased interest in different taste profiles, roasts and varieties, ranging from Americanos and Cappuccinos to Lattes, Mochas, and Iced coffees.
In line with this, Nestlé has expanded its coffee portfolio and further strengthened its premium offerings. Building on the strong foundation of Nescafe Classic and Sunrise we have also scaled into more nuanced and sophisticated offerings such as Nescafe Gold and Nescafe Roastery. We also have a café inspired range of frothy, indulgent Cappuccino and Choco Mocha along with the Iced Frappe.
Nestlé India also brought Nespresso to India in last year to further help consumers seeking premium at-home coffee experiences. Nespresso launched its first retail boutique in India in Select City Walk Mall in Saket, New Delhi in March 2025 to deliver the entire farm to cup experience.
These developments have together propelled India as one of the fastest-growing market for coffee across all Nestlé’s markets. Nestlé’s instant coffee range now reaches over 60 million households across the country.
Café-style cold coffees, ready-to-drink options, and pre-mixes are redefining convenience for younger consumers. How is Nestlé innovating in these new-age coffee formats to stay ahead of shifting preferences?
Nestlé India is actively innovating to redefine convenience in coffee consumption across all age groups, with a particular focus on younger consumers who seek café-style experiences at home and on the go. Ready-to-drink beverages are the fastest-growing coffee segment globally, driven by a sharp increase in cold coffee consumption among Gen Z and Millennials. Anticipating this trend, Nestlé has expanded its Nescafe RTD cold coffee range in India to include popular variants like Latte, Frappe, and Classic, along with flavors such as Chocolate and Caramel.
These offerings are designed to meet the needs of young consumers who prioritize convenience, variety, and portability to fit their fast-paced lifestyles. With the Nescafe All in One Frappe, Nestlé brings together great taste and convenience – “make a great tasting cold coffee by just adding cold water” while enabling consumers to customize as per their taste preferences.
These innovations across new-age coffee formats position Nestlé well to stay ahead of shifting consumer preferences and capture growth in the evolving Indian coffee market.
Nespresso’s entry into India has generated excitement. Can you share the vision behind this debut and how the omni-channel strategy—spanning retail, ecommerce, and experiential spaces—will be executed?
India’s rapidly evolving coffee culture showed a discernible trend towards in-home consumption, tilting towards premium coffee. We brought Nespresso to India for these consumers to help them unlock new experiences and discover extraordinary coffees.
We believe that experiential retail spaces like our boutiques allow consumers a truly immersive experience into the Nespresso coffee ethos where they can engage with our coffee specialists to understand more about the origins, blends and nuances of our coffees, and experience our innovative machines and accessories. The boutique is where the Nespresso experience truly comes alive.
As we look to further strengthen our presence in India, we will ensure our presence on platforms that best serve our consumer’s expectations, while staying true to the brand philosophy.
Sourcing from Indian farmers has been an important part of Nestlé’s coffee journey. What initiatives are being taken to strengthen these linkages and ensure both sustainability and quality in the coffee value chain?
The Nescafe Plan is Nestlé’s flagship sustainability initiative in the coffee sector, reflecting our commitment to Creating Shared Value (CSV) for farmers, communities, and the planet. Through the Nescafe Plan we engage over 5,000 farmers to improve their livelihoods, strengthen community resilience, and environmental management. The Nescafe Plan focuses on key elements such as soil, water and biodiversity which are integral to Regenerative agriculture.
It also engages coffee farmers to ensure long term supply of quality green coffee and make coffee farming a more attractive and sustainable activity for the present and future generations. Launched in India in 2012 with the establishment of the Nescafe Demo Farm and Training Centre in Kushalnagar, in the Coorg region, the programme showcases and transfers Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) to farmers in one of the country’s key coffee-growing regions. The initiative ensures the long-term supply of high-quality green coffee by making coffee farming more viable for current and future generations, while reducing its environmental footprint.
Looking ahead, how does Nestlé view the coffee category within its broader beverages portfolio in India? What is the long-term growth strategy, especially as competition heats up in the premium and café-style segments?
Looking ahead, Nestlé views the coffee category as a vital and growing pillar within its broader beverages portfolio in India, with several strategic priorities to drive long-term growth in a developing coffee culture across mainstream and premium segments.
Our focus will be on providing the consumers with quality coffees and through a strong innovation mindset, introduce relevant concepts to delight the rapidly evolving Indian consumer. At the heart of this vision is a strong commitment to sustainability. We will source 100 per cent of coffee in India sustainably, working closely with local farmers to support responsible agricultural practices and ensure long-term viability for the coffee ecosystem.
We continue to strengthen Nescafe, as both a trusted daily ritual and a dynamic lifestyle brand. Through strategic partnerships and meaningful consumer engagement, we aim to strengthen Nescafe’s emotional connection with India’s diverse and growing coffee-drinking audience.
By balancing scale with premiumisation, and innovation with sustainability, Nestlé’s multi-pronged approach is well-positioned to lead the charge in India’s coffee revolution—bringing global expertise and local insights together to stir long-term success. |
