Economic Observer reporter Aru Khan. Starting from August, Nestle Coffee's JD flagship store has launched a new product called "Nestle Coffee 1+2" coconut latte flavored instant coffee. Nestle introduced that this is the first time in nearly a decade that the "Nestle Coffee 1+2" brand has launched a new flavor in the Chinese market.
Pamela Takai, Senior Vice President and Head of Coffee Business at Nestle Greater China, recently told Economic Observer that according to the company's research, only about 50% of urban consumers have the habit of drinking coffee, but the overall frequency of consumption is low, only once or twice a week.
In Cai Jiawen's view, the size of the Chinese coffee market is still growing, and Nestle's opportunity lies in cultivating more "newcomers" to develop the habit of "drinking coffee" and "regularly drinking coffee". Nestle Coffee's consideration for launching new products is to reach consumers with better tasting flavors, more affordable prices, and more convenient ways, lower the threshold for consumers to drink coffee, and thus increase the brand's market penetration.
This is also one of Cai Jiawen's insights into the Chinese coffee market since taking office in September last year. Last July, the CEO of Nestle Greater China was replaced, and since then, the main business sectors in Greater China have also been replaced with new leaders. In September last year, Cai Jiawen, who was then the head of the Philippine Dairy Health and Nutrition Solutions (DHNS), became the head of the coffee business in Greater China and a member of the Greater China Management Committee, reporting directly to Nestle's CEO in Greater China, Ma Kaisi.
With the help of coffee product promotion, Cai Jiawen made her first public appearance to the media. She introduced that instant coffee and ready to drink coffee represented by silky latte are the two largest and most important core businesses of Nestle Coffee globally and in China. Nestle Coffee 1+2 "is a representative brand of instant coffee category, which has been in the Chinese market for nearly 30 years and has left a brand impression of convenience, affordable price, and good taste in the minds of consumers. Therefore, Nestl é has chosen to introduce new flavors in this product line to achieve "novelty" and leverage higher frequency consumption.
Another insight of Cai Jiawen into the Chinese coffee market is the diversification of shopping channels for Chinese consumers. She cited a set of data showing that each consumer purchases products through 12 channels a year. Nestle Coffee 1+2 can flexibly adapt to more channels: large box sizes will enter channels such as large supermarkets; In the small snack channel, Nestle offers single pack and more convenient small packaging products.
Nestle Group's first half 2026 financial report released on July 23 shows that coffee remains the core business driving its overall growth. In the first half of this year, the company achieved sales of 43.1 billion Swiss francs, with an actual internal growth rate of 1.5%, which is higher than the actual internal growth rate of 1.2% in the first quarter. Nestle stated that its sales are mainly led by its coffee, food, and snack businesses, with an organic growth rate of 7.5% for its coffee business, which is higher than its pet care, food, and snack businesses.