OVER A CUP OF HOPE
PEOPLE say that coffee makes the world move, waking people up when they need to get out of bed. But sometimes one needs more than a shot of caffeine, one needs a bit of hope. And the opening of the new Nespresso boutique at the Podium may provide just that in a world that has effectively frozen.
Nespresso is the single-serve coffee subsidiary of Nestle. While the machines have been around since 1986, and have been found in hotels and restaurants since the early 2000s, they hit Filipino homes only in 2017, through Novateur Coffee Concepts Inc. It has since opened a boutique in Rockwell (operational again after the lockdown loosened), and opened a second one in the Ortigas Center’s Podium just last week.
The new boutique, at 58 sqm., features the work of Universal Design Studio, an award-winning architecture and interior design firm founded by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby. The store highlights tabletops made from used coffee grounds and 100% sourced wood from reforestation programs. In partnership with Negrense Volunteers for Change (NVC), the store also showcases some wall tiles that demonstrate how Nespresso pods can be upcycled and transformed into high-value art pieces.
Patrick Pesengco, Managing Director of Novateur Coffee Concepts, pointed out how the aluminum pods of Nespresso prove to be a symbol of the brand’s commitment to sustainability — even before it became an urgent trend. Single-serve coffee capsules,
especially those made of plastic, are blamed for increasing plastic pollution. “From day one, [Nespresso’s pods were] made of aluminum, which costs much more,” Mr. Pesengco said during a webinar on Sept. 22, which showed the shop’s interiors. Aluminum can be melted and smelted again and again. As part of its program, Nespresso collects the used pods (either through in- store containers or through home or office pickups), and they have found a smelting partner who transforms the pods into ingots. According to Mr. Pesengco, the old pods have been transformed into automotive parts, among other things. Meanwhile, the coffee grounds can be, and some of them have been, distributed as fertilizer to local organic farms.
Despite the pandemic and doubts for the survival of many retailers, Mr. Pesengco sailed on to open a second coffee shop. “We were really having second thoughts during COVID [whether or not to open]. But we realized that we want to be hopeful. We Filipinos, we’re very hopeful and optimistic. We believe that the future would be better. We opened this boutique because we believe that at the very least, it’s a small role that we want to play. Aside from hiring our coffee specialists, we do have a lot of allied partners. The logistics, the delivery. It’s just a symbol of hope within our company.”
Speaking about the space at The Podium, he noted that a lot of their neighboring stores have not opened yet. “Hopefully, other tenants, other
retailers, would see that [with] Nespresso’s opening. ‘Maybe we have a chance to open as well’,” said Mr. Pesengco. He added, “Of course, we computed our finances, we’re not martyrs. We might not be able to get the returns that we wanted, but [it’s] enough to justify opening.”
In these times, a mundane cup of coffee (even if it’s an espresso that has somehow come to you in a pod) has become more special, a point Mr. Pesengco acknowledges. “For us, at Nespresso, it’s more than just coffee. It’s the start to your day, to make them realize that this day will come, and do well, whatever they face within the day.”
The Nespresso Boutique at The Podium is located at Level 2. For opening hours, visit