Nespresso Announces Agreement with French Competition Authority

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, September 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Positions Company to Continue Growth Driven by Product and Service Innovation 

Nespresso announced today that it has reached an agreement with the French Competition Authority (AdlC) to address concerns raised by the Authority regarding the company's activities in France. The views presented by the AdlC represented their preliminary evaluation of the market situation and do not constitute a finding of wrongdoing. The AdlC's decision to accept Nespresso's commitments closes the case.

As the AdlC noted, Nespresso’s ability to innovate is maintained while competitors are enabled to compete more effectively.

Nespresso has agreed three commitments with the AdlC concerning the French market, specifically to: (i) revise the way in which the company and its employees communicate about its products and about capsules that claim compatibility with Nespresso machines; (ii) through an independent third party, provide information to manufacturers of these capsules regarding any technical modifications to Nespresso machines in advance of their commercialisation and enable testing of their capsules on Nespresso prototypes; and (iii) put in place a comprehensive employee training program and other tools to reinforce the existing compliance programs and ensure awareness and compliance with all competition related laws and with commitment (i) above.

"We are pleased to reach an agreement with the AdlC and to have agreed a mechanism that enables us to continue innovating for the benefit of the consumers," said Jean-Marc Duvoisin, CEO of Nestlé Nespresso. "The initiatives that we have agreed demonstrate our ongoing commitment to fair and open competition."

Competition is not new for Nespresso, and the company continues to thrive in the face of the introduction of capsules that claim compatibility with Nespresso machines. The steps announced today will further reinforce the existing compliance programs in place at Nespresso. As further evidence of the company's commitment to fair competition, Nespresso intends to extend the sharing of technical information with other manufacturers to include those doing business outside the French market.

"This is a positive outcome for our consumers and our company," said Mr. Duvoisin. "By working constructively to address the concerns of the AdlC, we can now look forward with confidence and focus the full force of our resources on driving innovation across products and services to better serve consumers and our Club Members. We are strongly positioned to continue our growth in the dynamic portioned coffee segment with a solid and differentiated offering. Our direct-to-consumer model allows us to provide exceptional service to our Club Members and to anticipate their preferences. Instead of being present in supermarkets, we will continue to set ourselves apart through innovation and our own distribution channels."

Contact:
Diane Duperret
Corporate PR Manager
+41-21-796-92-89
diane.duperret@nespresso.com