Cream Of The Crop

The Peak Speaks to Renaud Tinel, Head of Asia for Nespresso, as the Coffee Maker Opens Its First New Concept Boutique in Southeast Asia at the Gardens Mall, Kuala Lumpur.

- Kirat Kaur

Tell us about the ideas and inspiration that went into creating this new boutique concept for Nespresso.

We call our boutiques a brand embassy, representing everything Nespresso stands for. With this new concept, there are a couple of things that we want to emphasise. The first is to tell the story of the coffee because we are about coffee, specifically in its quality, innovation and sustainability. The whole idea is to connect people in an environment that is conducive to narrate the Nespresso coffee tale. We’ve also changed the way we interact with customers and there’s no point of sales anymore – it’s less transactional and more engaging. Coffee specialists discuss with customers and they place their orders through iPads. There’s also a discovery bar, that’s like an l’atelier, where customers get to explore our coffee range and discover the world of coffee through Nespresso.

How are Nespresso’s pillars of quality, innovation and sustainability represented in this new boutique?

Almost everything in this boutique reflects that! We have table tops made from used coffee grounds from the Nespresso factory in Switzerland. The wood used in this boutique is also entirely sourced from reforestation programmes. Even the LED lights that are designed to remind us of coffee farms have lower electricity consumption. Finally, on the way out or in, the recycling pods for used capsules encourage customers to recycle them.