It is extremely important to us that we are offering the best possible machine & product ranges for our customers so we spend a lot of time reviewing and testing the options to see which ones live up to our very high standards.
As the Sales Manager, I am often asked " Why is this machine better than a Nespresso? ", which isn’t surprising given the massive brand awareness that Nespresso demands.
The brief response is it offers more choice and better value, saving you roughly 50%.
The whole story depends on:
- which of machine we are talking about - as the Nespresso machines are single serve, we are usually comparing with the Flavia Coffee Machine.
- which of the Nespresso Commercial machines we compare with - the range includes the Aguila, Zenius and Gemini CS Pro machines; and
- which features are most important to that customer in their office coffee machine which always to come back to the three key factors I mentioned above - quality, choice and value.
Quality
I’m not going to linger on quality for too long - from what I see of the Nespresso Commercial Coffee machines, they seem to be of similar quality and offer similar features to the Flavia Coffee Machine.
On the drinks side, the Nespresso Grand Cru pods offer different blends of arabica and robusta beans. The Flavia Coffee Machine range use 100% arabica beans, which are generally considered superior. Robusta beans are roughly half the price of arabica beans, so you could argue that the Nespresso capsules include cheaper, lower quality ingredients when compared with Flavia drinks.
Verdict - Too close to call - if I’m honest I quite like the Nespresso drinks so perhaps a touch of robusta shouldn’t be a deal-breaker.
Choice
Choice is where things interesting. The Nespresso Business Solutions offer a range of 18 Nespresso pods, including a decaf option - but there is no hot chocolate, and no tea.
Up to 40% of the hot drinks consumed in the workplace will be tea. The impressive range of Twinings and Bright teas are one of the reasons our Flavia coffee machine are so popular with our customers where as Nespresso is very coffee-focused.
In the Lavazza Professional drinks range, you have all of your favourite Lavazza coffees including Qualita rossa, Qualita Oro, Espresso Italiano and Crema E Gusto. When you are in need of a treat you can have a delicious Indulgent hot chocolate. Teas are from Twinings and the Bright Tea Co which includes green, fruit and herbal teas! The Nespresso can't do that.
Where the Flavia Coffee Machine really stands out is its ability to make your barista favourites. With its fresh milk frother it can froth any milk you choose, including non dairy, all in cup so there is no mess or need to clean milk tubes.
Out of fresh milk but want a cappuccino, latte, flat white or mocha in your coffee cup? Keep the new Flavia indulgence drinks on hand to enjoy now using only one sachet!
Verdict - Tea’s is too vital to your workplace- in my opinion, the lack of any tea or chocolate options in Nespresso is one of the areas that highlights that this is essentially a domestic system that has been adapted for the workplace, as opposed to a coffee machine designed for the office, like the Flavia coffee machines. I always caution buyers to think twice about putting in a ‘hot drinks machine’ that still sees 40% of staff and visitors waiting for the kettle to boil, and leaving their tea-bags on the side of the sink.
Value
At the end of the day, all of our buyers are up against the bottom line - you want to provide the best teas and coffees for employees and guests, but you need to make you are getting the best possible value.
As with the office drinks machines we sell, Nespresso Aguila, Zenius and Gemini CS Pro machines are available under a variety of purchase models.
For ease, I’ll assume you are buying the machine outright in which case the prices are likely to be as follows:
| Drink Size (Max) | Grams of Coffee | Price | Price / Gram | Price / Cup (220ml) | |
| Flavia Sachet | 266ml | 7.7g | 44p | 6p/gram | 44p |
| Nespresso Pod | 110ml | 6g | 45p | 7.5p/gram | 45p |
As you can see, whilst the headline price for a Nespresso drink is competitive, once you take into account the smaller amount of coffee in the pod, and the fact that the largest drink is only 110ml, it promptly gets more pricey:
- The reality is that hardly anybody considers 110ml ‘a drink’.
- The smallest drink sold in a high street cafe is usually 240ml, with a ‘regular’ coming in at 360ml.
- If you put a Nespresso machine in your workplace, your staff will probably use at least 2 pods each time.
- 2 Nespresso pods is still only 220ml - at a cup cost of 90p.
- This compares very badly to a 266ml of Flavia coffee at 44p.
If you take into account the prices that Nespresso charge for office coffee supplies such as paper cups, milk, sugar and stirrers, the price gap just gets wider and wider.
Verdict: Nespresso is likely to cost you roughly twice the price of Flavia. If you prefer to pay a more competitive price for your office tea and coffee, and offer your employees and visitors a wider choice of coffees, teas and hot chocolate, please do get in touch to discuss the best alternatives to Nespresso or ask about our easy coffee machine leasing options!
All the best,
Jamie Gardener
Business Development Manager
Office Barista
jamie@officebarista.co.uk
