Nescafé

Nescafe invented modern instant coffee, and the scale of that one innovation is hard to overstate. Nestle launched it in Switzerland in 1938 after years of research into a coffee that could be reconstituted without losing its character. It changed global habits permanently, making a decent cup possible without grinding or equipment, and the red mug became one of the most recognised pieces of packaging anywhere.

The range runs well beyond basic instant: the classic Original, the smoother freeze-dried Gold Blend, the Azera micro-ground range that blends soluble coffee with finely ground beans to close the gap to fresh, and a wide flavoured and cafe-style line. Sourcing runs through the Nescafe Plan, Nestle's long-running agronomy and responsible-sourcing programme that has distributed many millions of higher-yielding plantlets to farmers, with packaging moving to recyclable formats. For our shelf Nescafe is the dependable, universally understood instant cup. The Original is the workhorse, Gold Blend the smoother everyday step up, and Azera the one to point a customer towards when they want instant convenience but a cup that genuinely reads as ground coffee. It is not speciality coffee and never claimed to be. It is the most reliable, fastest, most consistent hot coffee a kitchen can make, from the brand that created the category and has spent more than eighty years refining it.