Nespresso, the premium coffee brand, unveiled a new strategy that puts expansion of the coffee experience at its center.
On April 23, Nespresso hosted a "Vertuo World" media day in Seongsu-dong in Seoul’s Seongdong District, where it unveiled the next-generation Vertuo Up system and a new advertising campaign.
40-year legacy, a new starting point
This year marks Nespresso’s 40th anniversary. Since its 1986 launch with the idea of bringing café-quality espresso into the home, the company has driven four decades of innovation in premium coffee, championed sustainable sourcing and farming, and helped broaden coffee’s cultural significance. In South Korea, Nespresso has ranked first in the capsule coffee machine market for three consecutive years, with an estimated market share of about 38%.
The new strategy builds on that track record and reframes coffee not as a simple choice but as an invitation to explore. In its latest campaign, Nespresso positions a single button press as the gateway to many coffee styles, encouraging consumers to expand their tastes. The company presents a range of recipes and the lifestyles they inspire as parts of a unified brand world.
Aiming squarely at 20–34-year-olds who favor iced coffee
Shifting consumer habits inform the strategy. People aged 20 to 34 drink more than two cups of coffee a day on average, and 88% of them opt for iced coffee. Sales of flavored and decaffeinated coffees grew by more than 40% compared with 2023, and 56% of 25–34-year-olds said they want to try seasonal limited-edition drinks. Taken together, these trends point to a growing cohort of consumers actively seeking new coffee experiences rather than repeating familiar choices.
Nespresso has framed that shift under the idea of "coffee exploration." The company wants Vertuo users to discover and enjoy coffees that match their tastes more easily, expanding the range of everyday coffee experiences. Rather than simply consuming coffee, consumers are invited to experiment with recipes and styles and, in the process, craft a personal coffee identity as part of the brand experience.
Flagship product 'Vertuo Up' debuts in Asia first in Korea
At the core of the strategy is the Vertuo Up system. The machine offers a three-second warm-up, dedicated extraction modes for iced and latte beverages, and a maintenance button for simpler upkeep. Those features aim to deliver a more intuitive user experience and broaden the kinds of coffee people can make at home.
After launches in the U.S. and Canada, Nespresso chose South Korea as the first Asian market for Vertuo Up, citing the country’s strong preference for iced coffee and its emphasis on convenience. Vertuo Up is designed to lower the barrier to exploration, making Nespresso’s "coffee exploration" concept practical in everyday life.
Expanding into lifestyle and gastronomy with Kim Go-eun and Chef Son Jong-won
Brand ambassador Kim Go-eun and Chef Son Jong-won attended the event. Kim, who recently played a successful writer in the drama Yumi’s Cells 3, joked that successful writers drink Nespresso, lightening the room.
Kim said she never skips coffee despite a busy schedule and described, with humor, how she tailors her coffee to the moment. She often reaches for an iced Americano in the morning or after a shoot, and at other times prefers a smoother, milk-based drink. She added that Vertuo Up makes it easy to enjoy that variety at home, reinforcing the brand’s message that coffee is a way of life.
On the culinary side, Chef Son offered an unexpected pairing. As a surprise guest, he recommended eating gimbap with Nespresso’s bold flavors, calling the match a childhood favorite.
The dessert served that day, "Where Everything Begins," was inspired by the landscapes and fruit of coffee-producing regions. The dish aims to represent the point where the Nespresso experience begins, combining deep sweet notes from caramel and chestnut. Chef Son demonstrated by pouring sauce over the dessert, and Kim finished the plating with a final drizzle. Attendees praised the result as artful, and the demonstration underscored how coffee and dessert can combine to create a richer sensory experience.
Nespresso coffee expert Bard also showcased a Vertuo Up recipe called Ruby Pomelogio, using the machine’s iced extraction function to illustrate how the system can deliver café-quality drinks at home.
Vertuo World pop-up runs at The Gave Seoul in Seongsu-dong
Alongside the event, Nespresso is operating a Vertuo World pop-up at The Gave Seoul in Seongsu-dong. Open for ten days from April 24 through May 3, the pop-up gives visitors a hands-on way to experience the range of coffee moments and the brand’s new world offline.
Seongsu-dong was a deliberate choice. The neighborhood attracts trend-conscious 20- and 30-somethings who seek out new brand experiences, aligning closely with Nespresso’s target audience for this strategy. The pop-up offers a direct channel to communicate the brand’s message while connecting product, advertising, and in-person experiences to expand the idea of coffee exploration.
Park Sung-yong, CEO of Nespresso Korea, said, "In 2026, Vertuo will be more than a coffee machine: it will symbolize Nespresso’s transformation and serve as the starting point for a new era of coffee exploration. We plan to shift the brand toward offering a broader, more flexible coffee experience."
Nespresso will continue to pursue an integrated strategy centered on the Vertuo system, linking products, content, and offline experiences to position coffee as a cultural lifestyle. Using its 40-year history as a foundation, the company aims to deepen connections with younger generations and make a cup of coffee more than a drink—an expression of taste and lifestyle—as it takes its first step toward the next 40 years.
