Nespresso officially opened its first ever boutique in Visayas with a grand launch last October 21, 2022.
Located at Level 1, The Gallery, Ayala Center Cebu, the new Nespresso boutique gives its customers an immersive and intimate exploration that will help them learn more about their tastes and preferences for coffee. They will also see the parts of the boutique that show Nespresso’s strong commitment to sustainable development and compliance with a circular economy that highlights zero waste management.
During the grand launch, Novateur Coffee Concepts’ managing director, Patrick Pesengco, was overjoyed to announce the opening of the company’s first Nespresso boutique in Ayala Center Cebu, allowing them to better serve and reach their club members in the Visayas.
Pasengco said: “We hope this new boutique will enable our customers to fully immerse themselves in the Nespresso world by allowing them to sample our coffees, read about the inspiration behind each capsule, find their new favorite blend, and share the experience with their friends and family.
“Our mission at the boutique is to encourage participation from our patrons by giving them avenues to develop a more nuanced understanding of the coffee experience. And that includes the reuse of old aluminum Nespresso capsules as part of the company’s commitment to environmental responsibility. Together, coffee connoisseurs and members of the Nespresso community can share in an exceptional event.”
Nespresso has long since become synonymous with the idea of “coffee capsules.” During the ‘70s, Swiss engineer Éric Favre, who was working for Nestlé then, came up with the idea for the Pod-based espresso. It took him ten years trying to perfect the process until the first Nespresso debuted in 1986. Since its founding, Nespresso has reimagined and revolutionized the way millions of people around the world enjoy their espresso coffee, shaping the global coffee culture in the process.
Coffee made in a Nespresso machine is consistently of high-quality because of the machine’s cutting-edge technology and stylish design. And now, Nespresso is finally within Cebuanos’ reach!
The Filipino industrial designer Kenneth Cobonpue is responsible for the new boutique’s indigenous furnishings. The “Yoda Chair,” made from high-quality rattan reeds and modeled after blades of grass, is just one example of Cobonpue’s innovative use of natural materials and handmade production methods to create one-of-a-kind designs.
Another example is “The Little People Screen,” composed of hundreds of little figurines made from saraga fibers, a shrub whose tough bark is used to make high-quality paper products and represents the carefree spirit of the little people. And the “Diwa Lamp,” conceived as a modern take on the traditional Filipino wooden deity bulul, who watched over the rice fields.
Also present in the new boutique is a greenery wall representing the local coffee plantations from which Nespresso sustainably sources the beans, and a window-to-farm feature shows a virtual view of coffee farms to bring customers closer to the natural origin of the coffee.
According to Fabio De Gregorio, Nespresso’s regional business development manager for Southeast Asia, these are just some of the many concepts that show Nespresso’s dedication to a sustainable tomorrow. The boutique incorporates a recycling corner, where customers can drop off their used Nespresso aluminum capsules to be recycled by artists into everyday household items; the tabletops in the Boutique are made from used coffee grounds from the Nespresso factory in Switzerland, and the wood is sourced solely from reforestation programs.
Customers are thus not only satisfying their coffee cravings but indirectly helping farmers. There will also be a Coffee Specialist table where a trained barista can demonstrate their knowledge of Nespresso coffee by fielding questions from guests, delving into the finer points of the various coffee options, and making personalized recommendations.
Coffee aficionados can visit the new Nespresso boutique at Ayala Center Cebu, Level 1, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and be immersed in a world of good coffee, art, culture, and sustainability. (SPONSORED CONTENT)