Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
Following a 10 month long legal battle between Nestec, the owner of the Nespresso brand, and Dualit, the High Court of Justice has handed down a judgment allowing Dualit to continue selling its premium coffee NX capsules.
Dualit says the Dualit NX capsules are compatible with Nestle’s Nespresso machines and Dualit’s new 3 in 1 coffee machine, which is the first coffee system to allow consumers to use ground coffee, ese pods and NX capsules.
“The judgment is ultimately good news for the consumer,” said Dualit managing director Leslie Gort-Barten. “Until this ruling consumers were essentially subject to a monopoly on how they purchased additional replacement capsules. Now, with our own range of NX coffee capsules, we can offer consumers a greater degree of choice driven by flavour, convenience and cost.
“Nespresso compatible capsules can be purchased on-line from our website and, more significantly, can continue to be sold on the high street. We have plans to expand our offer in the coming months.”
He added: “It’s also a landmark development for retailers too. The premium coffee single cup segment is the fastest growing sector of the global coffee industry. It was estimated in 2012 worldwide capsule sales reached £2.4bn.
“So for the high street it’s a win win situation; not only will it grow retailers’ profits, since they have greater access to the lucrative replacement capsule sector, but we see it will boost the overall popularity and sales of coffee machines – the UK coffee culture is currently worth £4bn annually.”
