Nespresso coffee capsules could soon be cheaper

Buying capsules for Nespresso coffee machines could soon be
cheaper, after Nespresso agreed to make it easier for competitors to
produce Nespresso-compatible coffee pods.

Nespresso will
provide manufacturers of coffee capsules with technical information
before implementing changes to their existing machines. Nespresso will
also let rivals test their coffee pods on prototype Nespresso machines.

The
agreement comes after objections were raised with the French
Competition Authority (AdlC), by D.E Master Blender and the Ethical
Coffee company, both of which produce coffee capsules designed to be
compatible with Nespresso coffee machines.

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Nespresso: it’s fair competition

Following
the complaints raised by D.E Master Blender and the Ethical Coffee
companies, the AdlC found there were several practices that incentivised
consumers to only use the official Nespresso-branded capsules.

These
included changes to Nespresso machines which rendered capsules produced
by other manufacturers incompatible, and wording the machines’
warranties to encourage consumers to only use Nespresso-branded
capsules.

The commitments Nespresso has since agreed with the AdlC
include revising the way the company publishes information about
compatibility of non-Nespresso pods with its own machines, providing
information to third-party capsule manufacturers and enabling testing of
third-party capsules on new Nespresso protoypes.

Jean-Marc
Duvoisin, CEO of Nestlé Nespresso said ‘We are pleased to reach an
agreement with the AdlC and to have agreed a mechanism that enables us
to continue innovating for the benefit of the consumers.

‘The initiatives that we have agreed demonstrate our ongoing commitment to fair and open competition.’

How Which? tests coffee machines

Which?
tests coffee machines more thoroughly than anyone else, to help you
find the best ones and avoid buying an expensive dud. 

Which?
coffee machine expert, Yvette Fletcher said ‘The best coffee machines
can pour an espresso that is flavourful with a rich halo of crema, the
right temperature and take less than 30 seconds to do so.

‘The
worst machines will spit out an espressso that could taste watery, be
missing that all-important crema and generally look flat and
uninspiring.’

Which? members can find out which coffee machines
produce the best coffee, whether it’s capsule, ground coffee or bean
grinding machines, by heading to our Best Buy coffee machine reviews.