Like many brand innovators, Nescafé was a result of intensive research - seven years of research to be precise taking place in Swiss Laboratories. In 1930 the Brazilian Coffee Institute contacted Nestlé to develop granulated coffee, soluble in hot water and that retained its flavor.
The background to this inquiry was that Nestlé through it dry milk products has a worldwide reputation and that Brazil produced coffee in abundance, such that the country was forced to destroy part of its crops so as not to see prices fall through the floor on the world market. Through a collaborative approach with the Brazilian Government, and seven years of research, a group of Nestlé scientists, led by chemist Dr Max Morgenthaler, developed Nescafé.
Many more or less successful trials were performed by Max Morgenthaler showed a recurring problem of a very hygroscopic extracted soluble coffee power.
In the spring of 1931 a soluble powder was finally produced that could be manufactured on an industrial scale. The breakthrough product was announced and introduced on 1 April 1938 at Nestlé’s headquarters in Vevey.
Over the years Nescafé has kept the emphasis on innovation, introducing pure soluble coffee (1952) solely using roast coffee beans, freeze-dried soluble coffee (with the launch of Gold Blend in 1965) and coffee granules (1967). In 1994 it invented the ‘full aroma’ process, which improved the quality of instant coffee.
Max Morgenthaler invented Nescafé
