Nespresso compatible pods Lidl €1.99

vienne86

OldRio wrote: »

Wind yer neck in the post he was replying to was this

'Meh. Coffee is coffee. Just like red wine is red wine. Cheap is good.'

Think it's looking like it's time to stop following this thread!

Catmologen

OldRio wrote: »

Wind yer neck in. The post he was replying to was this

'Meh. Coffee is coffee. Just like red wine is red wine. Cheap is good.'

Or do you agree with the above comment?

I do, in the context of a thread in the bargain alerts forum about cheap coffee.

OldRio

Catmologen wrote: »

I do, in the context of a thread in the bargain alerts forum about cheap coffee.

So you agree with that comment. Wow.

Catmologen

OldRio wrote: »

So you agree with that comment. Wow.

Its not my place to judge, each to his own.

OldRio

Catmologen wrote: »

Its not my place to judge, each to his own.

Au contraire. You did judge 'conductors post'. To which I quote

Wait until you're a little older and develop taste for the better things in life.
Someone who says coffee is coffee, or red wine is red wine- hasn't lived life.
Quality is better than quantity- sometimes you can get a bargain- but cheap, or indeed expensive- does not necessarily equate with bad or good.

I'd rather drink tap water- than bad wine. I'd rather have a glass of milk in the morning- than a cup of bad coffee.

As the Aussies have famously preached and practiced- cheap wine is best used for de-icing airports and cars. Not drank.

You judged the above post by this response

'in fairness, a lot of people dont like coffee or red wine, is that because they are not as old or experienced as you, o wise sage?

There is a lot more to life then coffee or red wine, trust me...maybe when you are a bit older you'll understand '

mrcheez

Drop it already! Take it to PM tbh

Davy

The coffee & tea forum is HERE for you to discuss your in depth feelings about coffee including a thread about these Lidl pods:>> Link

mrcheez wrote: »

Drop it already! Take it to PM tbh

If you have a problem with a post, report it for the mods to take action

quarryman

There's a Coffee and Tea forum?

Jaysus...

ShatterProof

What's worse is people can't take a joke anymore.

twangmansmate

have a pixie machine .seems to labour on lungo from lidl.I'm not impressed.Does anybody else have coffee grounds at the end of the cup.Not pleasant.Have tried making espresso cup expelling pod and topping up with water from machine

The_Conductor

twangmansmate wrote: »

have a pixie machine .seems to labour on lungo from lidl.I'm not impressed.Does anybody else have coffee grounds at the end of the cup.Not pleasant.Have tried making espresso cup expelling pod and topping up with water from machine

The foil is a little thicker than on regular Nespresso pods.
The Pixie is probably the smallest, least powerful machine.
Either upgrade to a more powerful machine- even the Citiz- or move back to Nespresso pods.
Ps- personally I think the Lidl ones taste like muck- I've actually binned my remaining ones, I couldn't bring myself to drink them.

Bluefoam

The_Conductor wrote: »

The Pixie is probably the smallest, least powerful machine.

I believe all Nespresso machines are currently 19 bar... all equally powerful...

There have been some rumours that newer machines have been set up in a way that makes it difficult to use third party capsules.

As for upgrading to the Citiz... The only considerable difference is the look and materials used. So its up to you whether you want to spend the extra money.

nilsonmickey

DO you need a coffee machine for these or can they be used in hot water?

The_Conductor

Bluefoam wrote: »

I believe all Nespresso machines are currently 19 bar... all equally powerful...

There have been some rumours that newer machines have been set up in a way that makes it difficult to use third party capsules.

As for upgrading to the Citiz... The only considerable difference is the look and materials used. So its up to you whether you want to spend the extra money.

You're right.

To be honest- the best upgrade- would be a move away from one of these machines altogether- and to get a proper machine that uses freshly ground coffee, and a small grinder.......

The 19 bar pressure thing- is probably just a marketing gimmick anyway- looking at other machines- between 5 and 10 bars, regulated, seems the norm- all the Nespresso machines seem to be unregulated- a regulator is cheap as peanuts- maybe a Euro- don't know why they don't have one.

This is what I get for spending an hour researching coffee machines......

ted1

nilsonmickey wrote: »

DO you need a coffee machine for these or can they be used in hot water?

NO you can't use them like a tea bag. The Nespresso pumps the water through the capsule at 19 PSI.

picture a sieve filled with sand, if you pour water on top it'll sit there. if you compress it down the water will filter through the sand and sieve.

Bluefoam

The_Conductor wrote: »

get a proper machine

Yawn...

T-Maxx

ted1 wrote: »

NO you can't use them like a tea bag. The Nespresso pumps the water through the capsule at 19 PSI.

picture a sieve filled with sand, if you pour water on top it'll sit there. if you compress it down the water will filter through the sand and sieve.

19 bar

T-Maxx

ted1 wrote: »

NO you can't use them like a tea bag. The Nespresso pumps the water through the capsule at 19 PSI.

picture a sieve filled with sand, if you pour water on top it'll sit there. if you compress it down the water will filter through the sand and sieve.

19 bar

T-Maxx

ted1 wrote: »

NO you can't use them like a tea bag. The Nespresso pumps the water through the capsule at 19 PSI.

picture a sieve filled with sand, if you pour water on top it'll sit there. if you compress it down the water will filter through the sand and sieve.

19 bar

coffee to go

T-Maxx wrote: »

19 bar

T-Maxx wrote: »

19 bar

T-Maxx wrote: »

19 bar

57 bar! :pac:

bk

twangmansmate wrote: »

Have tried making espresso cup expelling pod and topping up with water from machine

Otherwise called an Americano or Long Black depending on the order you do it.

Americano - Espresso shot followed by water
Long Black - Water followed by Espresso shot

BTW interesting to note that Robert Robert are now making Nespresso compatible capsules and they seem to be available in Ireland!

They are selling them at the coffee shop in my office (only available to Employees, big US IT company). They cost the same as the Nespresso pods and seem to be exactly the same as the Nespresso pods (no external wrapper like the Lidl ones).

They cost the same as the Nespresso pods, but it is hundred times easier to buy them in work, then trudge into stupid Brown Thomas. I think Nespresso are really missing out here but not having their pods more widely available.

JohnK

bk wrote: »

... They cost the same as the Nespresso pods and seem to be exactly the same as the Nespresso pods (no external wrapper like the Lidl ones)....

While they don't have an external wrapper, they are made of a similar plastic to the Lidl ones rather than the aluminium style of the official capsules and like the Lidl ones I find the Robert Robert capsules take a lot more force in order to close the handle on the machine; I'm constantly afraid I'm going to snap it.

bk

JohnK wrote: »

While they don't have an external wrapper, they are made of a similar plastic to the Lidl ones rather than the aluminium style of the official capsules and like the Lidl ones I find the Robert Robert capsules take a lot more force in order to close the handle on the machine; I'm constantly afraid I'm going to snap it.

To be honest I've seen zero difference with force required between the Robert Robert, Lidl and Nespresso pods. All seem the same to me with my machine.

To be honest I think there is a lot of FUD being spread with relation to this.

mrcheez

bk wrote: »

hundred times easier to buy them in work, then trudge into stupid Brown Thomas. I think Nespresso are really missing out here but not having their pods more widely available.

Get your Nespresso delivered and have the delivery man take away the used ones for recycling.

mrcheez: Saving the planet one coffee at a time.

JohnK

bk wrote: »

To be honest I've seen zero difference with force required between the Robert Robert, Lidl and Nespresso pods. All seem the same to me with my machine.

To be honest I think there is a lot of FUD being spread with relation to this.

Well it could just be my machine, a Lattissima Plus, but I find the force difference very noticeable, to the point of being off putting.

bk

mrcheez wrote: »

Get your Nespresso delivered and have the delivery man take away the used ones for recycling.

mrcheez: Saving the planet one coffee at a time.

And how do you receive your delivery when you are at work?

My company, like most big companies don't allow you to receive personal deliveries at work.

Also the extra costs of delivery.

Much much easier to buy a box of Robert Robert pods while I'm at the company coffee shop getting my daily fix or during my normal weekly shop at Lidl.

Just goes to show how idiotic Nespresso business model is, now in the face of all this extra competition. A coffee shop in a big international IT company, with coffee loving engineers and lots of disposable income is exactly their target audience. And no shop in Dundrum, Blanchardstown, etc., again their target audience, is stupid.

They don't necessarily need to match Lidl's pricing, but they certainly need to match the convenience. They need to start selling their pods at Starbucks and other coffee shops and also in Tesco, etc.

Del007

bk wrote: »

BTW interesting to note that Robert Robert are now making Nespresso compatible capsules and they seem to be available in Ireland!

I'm nearly sure you can buy Robert Robert in Dunnes...

JohnK

Del007 wrote: »

I'm nearly sure you can buy Robert Robert in Dunnes...

You can, thats where I got mine.

Del007

JohnK wrote: »

You can, thats where I got mine.

I'm sure it's in Tesco also, think I saw it there the other day. Must be new

bk

So basically it sounds like Robert Roberts are charging the same as Nespresso, but much easier to get.

Just goes to show how silly Nespresso are with their limited distribution model.

ted1

bk wrote: »

So basically it sounds like Robert Roberts are charging the same as Nespresso, but much easier to get.

Just goes to show how silly Nespresso are with their limited distribution model.

It's called product life cycle, it's been a CAS cow it'll now. Up until recently the successfully protected their patent, however the recent ruling allows for other people to make non aluminium pods.

maxwell smart

bk wrote: »

So basically it sounds like Robert Roberts are charging the same as Nespresso, but much easier to get.

Just goes to show how silly Nespresso are with their limited distribution model.

It is anything but silly, I think you will find that the level of contact with their customers through this model (making them part of the 'club', the exclusivity factor) is a fundamental part of their customer proposition. They are not aiming at being all things to all people.

I have tried the Lidl capsules in my Citiz and found them to stick, definitely an inferior quality product (and personally the taste is poor). .Haven't tried the robert roberts ones yet. But if they are plastic I don't hold much prospect of them being much better

bk

ted1 wrote: »

It's called product life cycle, it's been a CAS cow it'll now. Up until recently the successfully protected their patent, however the recent ruling allows for other people to make non aluminium pods.

Sure, but if they were smart, when they lost the ruling, they should have immediately started putting in place agreements with Tesco, Dunnes, Starbucks, etc. to carry their pods. Instead they will now be giving up market share to Robert Robert and others.

maxwell smart wrote: »

It is anything but silly, I think you will find that the level of contact with their customers through this model (making them part of the 'club', the exclusivity factor) is a fundamental part of their customer proposition. They are not aiming at being all things to all people.

Actually I found Nespresso customer experience to be pretty awful last weekend.

So with my new found interest in Nespresso, I decided to get a Nespresso Aeroccino (a device for frothing milk for Lattes, etc.).

- First I went to D.I.D. (I have a €50 voucher from UPC for them). They do sell Nespresso machines, but they hadn't a clue what an Aeroccino is!

- Next I went to Arnotts, in fairness, Arnotts had two staff waiting right there in the Nespresso machine section, waiting to help out and very friendly and very well informed. However they told me that sorry the Aeroccino could only be bought in Brown Thomas or online on the Nespresso site.

- So I trudge over the river to Brown Thomas. Now get this, no Aeroccino's on display, no indication if they sell it or how much it might cost! But worse, they don't even have a sales person standing by the machines to help!!! Just the two guys standing behind the till and selling pods. So I have to queue up at the till and wait for them to finish selling the pods to others before they could sell a machine. Now yes it turns out they do have the Aeroccino, hidden away out of site behind the tills!!

Really poor customer sales service IMO.

To be honest the whole Nespresso thing reeks of false exclusivity. Basically take a mass market product, jazz it up with some fancy marketing and overcharge for poor service and sell it as some sort of "exclusive" product to the middle class mass market.

I can certainly understand the concept of having premium stores, just like Apple does, where they have all their products available, shown off in the best light and with excellent customer support and knowledgeable sales staff.

But Nespresso at Brown Thomas certainly has little of this, first of all they don't have all the Nespresso product range, non of their glasses or other accessories. And not having a sales person on hand to help sell the machines is shocking (Arnotts does a far better job with this).

Nespresso at Brown Thomas feels more like Apples sub-stores that you find in Dixons or PC world, rather then their true Apple premium stores.

And that is the thing, even though Apple has amazing "premium" stores, Apple are smart enough to also sell their products through all the normal distribution channels too, Dixons, PC World, every mobile shop, Amazon, hell even Tesco sells Apple products!

Apple understand that as well as having a premium brand and stores, you most also make your product widely and easily available to your target market. If you don't someone else will.

If Nespresso were serious about being a "premium" brand then they would have their own stores in Dundrum, Blanchardstown, even on Grafton Street, with a full range of their products and well trained sales staff. But they would also understand that you need to make your product as easily buyable as possible, selling them in all the usual places people buy coffee. Specially as other companies are doing it for them now.

In the end Nespresso isn't really anything particularly special. It is owned by Nestle, yes the same company who makes Smarties and Toffee Crisps you find in your local shop. Haha their is exclusivity for you!

Actually interestingly, Nestle also make the Dolce Gusto coffee machines and pods, very similar to Nespresso, but where they happily sell you pods for the machines in Tesco, etc. Some nice market segmentation going on there :rolleyes:

ted1

bk wrote: »

Sure, but if they were smart, when they lost the ruling, they should have immediately started putting in place agreements with Tesco, Dunnes, Starbucks, etc. to carry their pods. Instead they will now be giving up market share to Robert Robert and others.



Actually I found Nespresso customer experience to be pretty awful last weekend.

So with my new found interest in Nespresso, I decided to get a Nespresso Aeroccino (a device for frothing milk for Lattes, etc.).

- First I went to D.I.D. (I have a €50 voucher from UPC for them). They do sell Nespresso machines, but they hadn't a clue what an Aeroccino is!

- Next I went to Arnotts, in fairness, Arnotts had two staff waiting right there in the Nespresso machine section, waiting to help out and very friendly and very well informed. However they told me that sorry the Aeroccino could only be bought in Brown Thomas or online on the Nespresso site.

- So I trudge over the river to Brown Thomas. Now get this, no Aeroccino's on display, no indication if they sell it or how much it might cost! But worse, they don't even have a sales person standing by the machines to help!!! Just the two guys standing behind the till and selling pods. So I have to queue up at the till and wait for them to finish selling the pods to others before they could sell a machine. Now yes it turns out they do have the Aeroccino, hidden away out of site behind the tills!!

Really poor customer sales service IMO.

To be honest the whole Nespresso thing reeks of false exclusivity. Basically take a mass market product, jazz it up with some fancy marketing and overcharge for poor service and sell it as some sort of "exclusive" product to the middle class mass market.

I can certainly understand the concept of having premium stores, just like Apple does, where they have all their products available, shown off in the best light and with excellent customer support and knowledgeable sales staff.

But Nespresso at Brown Thomas certainly has little of this, first of all they don't have all the Nespresso product range, non of their glasses or other accessories. And not having a sales person on hand to help sell the machines is shocking (Arnotts does a far better job with this).

Nespresso at Brown Thomas feels more like Apples sub-stores that you find in Dixons or PC world, rather then their true Apple premium stores.

And that is the thing, even though Apple has amazing "premium" stores, Apple are smart enough to also sell their products through all the normal distribution channels too, Dixons, PC World, every mobile shop, Amazon, hell even Tesco sells Apple products!

Apple understand that as well as having a premium brand and stores, you most also make your product widely and easily available to your target market. If you don't someone else will.

If Nespresso were serious about being a "premium" brand then they would have their own stores in Dundrum, Blanchardstown, even on Grafton Street, with a full range of their products and well trained sales staff. But they would also understand that you need to make your product as easily buyable as possible, selling them in all the usual places people buy coffee. Specially as other companies are doing it for them now.

In the end Nespresso isn't really anything particularly special. It is owned by Nestle, yes the same company who makes Smarties and Toffee Crisps you find in your local shop. Haha their is exclusivity for you!

Actually interestingly, Nestle also make the Dolce Gusto coffee machines and pods, very similar to Nespresso, but where they happily sell you pods for the machines in Tesco, etc. Some nice market segmentation going on there :rolleyes:

Nespresso built up a billion euro buisness selling coffee machines and POds. I think that they know what they are doing. But I'm sure that they would love to bring you on as a consultant.

vienne86

I was given a Nespresso (pixie)as a present a couple of years ago - I love it, but have NEVER bought the Nespresso pods....I just find it a pain to go to BT's or to order on line. I have brought various types home from France, some much better than others, and am now happy enough with the Lidl ones. I'd be interested to try the Robert Roberts ones.....must ferret them out.

I heard that Nespresso were planning to open a shop in Dublin, but in the Grafton street area, so I wouldn't be interested in using it. Like an earlier poster, I like to buy coffee with my regular weekly shopping.

JillyQ

maxwell smart wrote: »

It is anything but silly, I think you will find that the level of contact with their customers through this model (making them part of the 'club', the exclusivity factor) is a fundamental part of their customer proposition. They are not aiming at being all things to all people.

I have tried the Lidl capsules in my Citiz and found them to stick, definitely an inferior quality product (and personally the taste is poor). .Haven't tried the robert roberts ones yet. But if they are plastic I don't hold much prospect of them being much better

I have tried them as well to describe them as awful is an understatement.

ezra_pound

JohnK wrote: »

Well it could just be my machine, a Lattissima Plus, but I find the force difference very noticeable, to the point of being off putting.

I find this also. Can't remember name of machine now. Think it's cilitz or something... Magimix maybe. Anyway I've got used to it now but first time I was worried that the machine would break. At least twice or three times as much force required to force handle down.

vienne86

Funny enough I have had no problems with the lidl pods in my pixie. Some of the French ones gave me terrible grief, but I soon figured out which ones to avoid.

Crunchienut

vienne86 wrote: »

Funny enough I have had no problems with the lidl pods in my pixie. Some of the French ones gave me terrible grief, but I soon figured out which ones to avoid.

I have a "U" machiine and have no problems with the Lidl or Robert Roberts pods.

A few months back, before I used the compatibles, my machine was "struggling" with genuine pods. The Nespresso Boutique recommended I descale it and it solved the problem.

bk

ted1 wrote: »

Nespresso built up a billion euro buisness selling coffee machines and POds. I think that they know what they are doing. But I'm sure that they would love to bring you on as a consultant.

Just because they built a billion euro business, doesn't mean they can't miss a disruptor to their market and lose that billion euro business overnight.

The market is full of such failures. Just look at Nokia, at their height in 2007 they had 50% of the mobile phone market and were worth more then a 100 Billion! However they totally missed the disruptor of the smart phone and just 5 years later they were sold to Microsoft for a piddling 5 Billion and have a market share of 2.5% and shrinking!

ted1

bk wrote: »

Just because they built a billion euro business, doesn't mean they can't miss a disruptor to their market and lose that billion euro business overnight.

The market is full of such failures. Just look at Nokia, at their height in 2007 they had 50% of the mobile phone market and were worth more then a 100 Billion! However they totally missed the disruptor of the smart phone and just 5 years later they were sold to Microsoft for a piddling 5 Billion and have a market share of 2.5% and shrinking!

You do know that its owned by Nestle.

nilsonmickey

coffee to go wrote: »

57 bar! :pac:

What is the unit of pressure measurement here? PSI or Bar? 19 Bar seems quite high.

mrcheez

http://www.nespresso.com/pro/ie/en/pages/our_machines

Says 19 bar

mrcheez

vienne86 wrote: »

I heard that Nespresso were planning to open a shop in Dublin, but in the Grafton street area, so I wouldn't be interested in using it. Like an earlier poster, I like to buy coffee with my regular weekly shopping.

They're trying to present an image of exclusivity (hence the ads with George Clooney etc) so you're unlikely to see Nespresso in your local SuperValu anytime soon (incidentally I spotted Robert Roberts in my SuperValu last night).

For example you can only buy Comme Les Garcons perfume in Arnotts and BT (or online) again due to exclusivity.

Anyway the online delivery facility is superb if you can avail of it as they take away the used capsules.

odckdo

bk wrote: »

To be honest the whole Nespresso thing reeks of false exclusivity. Basically take a mass market product, jazz it up with some fancy marketing and overcharge for poor service and sell it as some sort of "exclusive" product to the middle class mass market.

Normally I would order around 200 capsules online every few months. I like the variety of Nespresso but the main thing is the convenience of making good coffee quickly.

With regards their customer service they rightly annoyed me recently. I got both an email and letter announcing the increase in strength of one of the lungo's. As a customer I could get a nice presentation box of 16 capsules if I ordered 300 capsules. These 16 capsules would be worth maybe €6/€7 and I have to spend nearly €150 to get them.

I have had enough of Nespresso at this stage particularly with that marketing ploy of a 'free' box of capsules. I worked out what I spend per year on Nespresso capsules - its too expensive.

I have tried the Lidl ones and they are OKish but would be worried about messing up the machine.

Back to grinding my own and a trusty cafetiere I think.

bk

ted1 wrote: »

You do know that its owned by Nestle.

Yes, a company who also owes Dolce Gusto, which they sell in Tesco, etc. Nice market segmentation there!

Of course Nestle aren't going to fail (they are the largest food company in the world by revenue), but their Nespresso brand has become a very significant earner for them. Actually their most profitable brand now.

So it would still hurt their profitability significantly if they lose market share. Nespresso currently command 70% of the European single serve coffee market. That is looking like a market ripe for disruption to me!

I'm not saying that Nespresso shouldn't continue to market and position their brand as a premium product, with premium stores, club, etc. But in the face of this new competition, it seems silly for them to continue to not distribute their product more widely through regular channels.

Perhaps they could just sell a limited range of three or four of their "standard" pods via Tesco, etc., while keeping the full range of "premium" pods exclusive to their stores and online. That would be a logical compromise.

But you don't need an MBA to realise that keeping to their current business model will simply lead to a reduction in that 70% market share in the face of all these compatible pods.

maxwell smart

bk wrote: »

Nespresso currently command 70% of the European single serve coffee market. That is looking like a market ripe for disruption to me!

I think it is Nestle as a whole who have the 70% market share (including the Dolce Gusto / Nescafe Professional and a couple of other systems only available in Europe) rather than Nespresso only.

Anyway, somehow I don't think we are going to form the next 5 year marketing plan for Nespresso here on this forum!

It is going to be about brand loyalty. There are loads of makes of cars out there, each do basically the same thing, but people buy different ones for different reasons. Everyone could buy a Dacia and get a cheap car that (i believe) is value for money. It does the main thing right, gets you from A to B.
But there are plenty of people out there who would never touch a Dacia, no matter how cheaper it is.

bk

maxwell smart wrote: »

It is going to be about brand loyalty. There are loads of makes of cars out there, each do basically the same thing, but people buy different ones for different reasons. Everyone could buy a Dacia and get a cheap car that (i believe) is value for money. It does the main thing right, gets you from A to B.
But there are plenty of people out there who would never touch a Dacia, no matter how cheaper it is.

Sure, but I'm not arguing that. I'm arguing that Nespresso's distribution channels are silly, specially in the face of the increased competition.

While I'm sure there are a few people who actually think Nestle/Nespresso somehow make better coffee :rolleyes: I think the reality is that the majority of people who buy Nespresso machines, do so because it makes a "good enough" Espresso very quick and conveniently.

Otherwise they would buy a real coffee machine or bean to cup machine and get a much better Espresso. Convenience and ease of use is the real reason for Nespresso's success.

But then Nespresso shot themselves in the foot, but making it difficult and inconvenient to actually buy the pods.

I'm sure many, if not most Nespresso users aren't really loyal to the brand, they will see these Robert Robert compatible pods in their local supermarket, will try them out and find there are just the same as the Nespresso pods and will be delighted at the increased convenience of just buying them with their weekly shop, rather then have to trudge into Brown Thomas, etc.

vienne86

Funny enough I have had no problems with the lidl pods in my pixie. Some of the French ones gave me terrible grief, but I soon figured out which ones to avoid.

kingtut

I found the LIDL ones to be complete tasteless, bought a box of each which I'll be leaving in work beside the Nespresso machine for the vultures to collect :P