70 years of coffee at its best

Like Terry Wogan, a pair of Nylons and the Bic pen, 2008 marks the 70th Birthday of the UK’s favourite, and first, instant coffee brand, NESCAFÉ. The colourful history of the famous “richer, smoother, tasting cup” starts in 1930 when Food & Beverage Company, Nestlé, was challenged by the Brazilian government to create a coffee product that had all the rich flavour and aroma of ground fresh coffee, but that could be made by simply adding hot water.

Eight years of intensive research later, NESCAFÉ was born, the Hebrew translation literally meaning ‘Miracle Coffee’.

Demand for the product rapidly spread worldwide and NESCAFÉ soon became the popular choice and was even included in the food rations of the American armed forces throughout the war. From then on in its appeal soared. The 1950’s saw coffee as the beverage of choice amongst teenagers where coffee houses became the place to be ‘seen’ and 1965 saw the introduction of a premium instant coffee offering called NESCAFÉ Gold Blend.

The NESCAFÉ portfolio has since continually moved with consumer demand and now includes dark rich roasts, lighter more aromatic roasts, decaffeinated, half caffeinated and Fair Trade, as well as a range of speciality coffees, such as Cappuccino and Latte.
NESCAFÉ’s advertising over the last 70 years has become as popular and iconic as the coffee brand itself, with an array of famous faces putting their hand to the famous NESCAFÉ coffee bean shake. Sir Clement Freud, Peter Davison, Tom Conti, Andre Agassi, Sarah Greene, Una Stubbs and Gareth Hunt are just a few of the celebrities that starred in early NESCAFÉ TV ad’s...not forgetting the NESCAFÉ Gold Blend Couple. The love affair that captivated a nation during the 1980s, as Sharon Maughan and Anthony Head played out their romance over a cup of coffee (they even inspired the romance novel “Love Over Gold!)

More recently Denise Van Outen, Jonny Vaughan, Ian Wright and Chris Eubank have all enjoyed ‘Coffee at its best’ as have ‘What Not to Wear’ stars Trinny & Susannah who encouraged the people of Great Britain to ‘lift their cups’!

70 years since its launch, NESCAFÉ is still the biggest coffee brand in the world and is sold in over 100 countries, with 3,000 cups drunk every second.

For more information on the NESCAFÉ Brand, log on to Nescafe.co.uk.