What consumers expect from their coffee machines.

De’Longhi consumer marketing manager, Eleanor Moss attributed growth in fully automatic and manual pump coffee machines to the resurgence of fresh beans. “This movement is going from strength to strength and can no longer be considered a trend – it is here to stay,” she affirmed.

De’Longhi will undertake a comprehensive Australian coffee insight study in the first half of 2017 to determine consumer profiles and purchase triggers for all coffee machine users, in addition to examining the instant coffee drinker.

Nespresso commercial manager, Nicole Parker believes the most prominent trend, both here and abroad, is the contemporary change in living environments. “With increasing house prices and a reduction in living space, we have seen a growth in inner-city apartment living. This trend has influenced a shift to more compact and versatile appliances,” she said.

Consumers are now also looking to more playful colours to lift the look of the kitchen space. “To meet these demands, we are introducing the Essenza Mini in March 2017. It is the smallest machine in the Nespresso range and allows customers to make the perfect coffee from their home kitchen, without having to give up space on their benchtop. We are giving consumers greater choice by introducing the new machine in two different shapes and six colours,” Parker said.

Jura head of sales, George Liakatos said the company will be focusing on bringing premium technology to the mid-segment of the market in 2017. “With our position in the premium segment cemented, we are turning our attention to the mid-segment where we hope to make the same impact,” he said.

“Whilst we prefer to think it’s moved beyond a trend and more to an assumption of consumer, sustainability will remain top-of-mind for many people looking for ways to continue to improve their individual contributions. There continues to be a lot of media attention around capsules, and whilst there are opportunities for these to be recycled, discerning consumers will also take into consideration the front-end of the process in terms of manufacturing the packaging to create the capsule as well as the back-end process.”

Nestle sales and partner manager, Bryan Win said coffee quality, variety and value for money will continue to drive machine purchases, in conjunction with style and design. He also noted that personalisation is becoming more prominent.

“Despite a decline in the capsule machine category, the Nescafe Dolce Gusto has bucked the trend and achieved strong unit sales growth in 2016. We launched our TV campaign with American artist, will.i.am, celebrating the power of creativity and reinvention of coffee quality, which was supported by TV advertising, YouTube videos, retail tagging and innovative digital platforms such as Shazam,” he said.

There is a new manual machine from Smeg that has just hit shop floors as consumers become more ‘hands-on’ in making coffee at home and are no longer satisfied with pressing a single button to perfect their coffee, national account manager of small appliances, Arthur Banbas said.

“We have developed a manual coffee machine that allows users to use both ground coffee and use easy serve espresso pods. The professional group handle ensures the perfect coffee extraction for a rich flavoursome crema. Furthermore, milk frothing has been made easy with the design of the unique frothing nozzle. Consumers are far more knowledgeable in the coffee arena than ever before and look for a coffee machine that ticks all the boxes in relation to functionality and style,” he noted.

Consumers are demanding better quality coffee as café culture continues to be embedded in Australian daily life, according to Sunbeam product marketing manager for beverage and breakfast, Nicole Norton.

“Consumers want to replicate the great tasting, quality coffee and barista experience that they find in their local café by purchasing this same type of machine for their own home. These trends are directly impacting consumer machine purchases of manual machines, with the segment going from strength to strength taking share from pod machines. In value share, manual machines are 34% (up 6%) and pod machines are 40% (down 5%),” she said.

Miele product manager for built-in and refrigeration, Kylie Taylor said replicating a café style coffee has never been in higher demand with the category continuing to experience strong growth. “Ever-increasingly, Australians seek quality coffee machines that not only produce perfect, great-tasting coffee, but are also easy to operate and require minimal maintenance,” she said.