Want to enjoy a little black, a cappuccino, a hot chocolate? With NEO, Nescafé, the Nestlé group brand, is adding an extension to its Dolce Gusto range and offering a machine that works with compostable pods. Made from paper, they can be stored in the composter after use. But what else does NEO bring to the coffee machine market? 20 minutes was able to test it and take the opportunity to decipher the manufacturer’s offer.
Smart pods
Looking at this new coffee machine, we can’t help but think, at best, of a speaker Phantom from the Devialet brand, at worst, to a xenomorph, the devastating monster of the film Alien, by Ridley Scott! Full of curves (but that’s the characteristic of Dolce Gusto machines), NEO is not necessarily discreet in a kitchen (15 x 33.9 x 40.1 cm). But if you choose it in white, it goes perfectly with a Thermomix!
Manufactured by Krups (SEB group brand), it is also available in black. In addition to its disruptive design, to say the least, the device adopts a new pod system. And smart pods. No more control panels on certain Dolce Gusto coffee machines to adjust the temperature and length of your drink: NEO knows how to adapt to the type of pods chosen. Its secret: an optical reader recognizes the patterns present on their cover. Clever!
A good minute for a coffee
The machine, which has a 1.3 liter water reserve in its base, has a small housing on its arched back that can be opened and closed manually to slide in its pod. At the front there is also a hatch for specific sachets sold for the preparation of chocolate drinks, cappuccino, latte macchiatto, and latte. And a collector collects the used pods (capacity: 9 pods). The sachets must be extracted by hand.
Offering a pressure of 15 bars (rather welcome for espresso and lungo!), NEO proves simplicity itself in use. The waiting time for a coffee (a little over a minute) seemed a little long, however, and the machine a little noisy. The design of its water reserve, which must be slid sideways to extract it, is also striking, but this new gesture is quickly acquired.
For their part, the different pods offered offer an appreciable variety*: from coffee to chocolate, it is a device that can appeal to the whole family, unlike Nespresso machines (also from the Nestlé group) which favor self-proclaimed lovers of coffee.
Among the different recipes that we were able to test during our trials, that of cappuccino (which combines a sachet of milk and a pod of coffee) seemed rather attractive to us to the eye and to the palate, with its thick milk foam and its pronounced and slightly sweet coffee taste. Also a bonus for the “Carafe” pod to make a large… carafe of coffee.
Compostable and recyclable consumables
What remains are the more environmentally friendly consumables. Certified by certification body TÜV Austria, NEO pods are supposed to melt naturally after up to six months. Obviously we have not yet been able to verify this. While the Agec law will require all French people to compost their household waste from January 1, 2024, that’s a good point. Even if the pods, which are supplied in a cardboard box that can also be composted, also feature a plastic overwrap to place in its sorting bin…
For their part, bags for milk and chocolate drinks are recyclable. In paper form, simply throw them into your sorting bin as well. Manufactured like all Dolce Gusto machines by Krups (a brand of the SEB group), NEO is said to be repairable for fifteen years. It is made from 50% recycled plastics. We click on “like”.
But the price of coffee in all this?
On the price side, NEO, which was launched at 169 euros at the beginning of the summer, is currently at 129 euros at Fnac, Darty, Boulanger, Carrefour… A price reduction that is profitable for the consumer, but which is challenging. Should we imagine a difficult start to sales? We can also regret that the new compostable pods from Nescafé are not compatible with the classic Dolce Gusto machines, Nescafé thus requiring the purchase of a new device…
The price of the pods starts at 4.35 euros. At this price, twelve espresso pods (total weight: 66 grams) are provided, or 0.36 euros per cup of coffee. Which puts the kilo of coffee at 65.90 euros. For comparison, the price of a classic 250 gram packet of ground coffee is around 3 to 4 euros, or 12 to 16 euros per kilo (you should always compare prices per kilo or per liter!). For 4.12 to 5.5 times less expensive and whether it is used with a basic and very economical filter coffee maker, or with a coffee machine with a filter holder handle (like in bistros), the ground coffee is also compostable. .
* Recipes offered: espresso, intense espresso and lungo for short coffees; grande, carafe and breakfast blend Americano (Starbucks) for slow coffee; latte, cappuccino, latte macchiato and caramel latte macchiato (Starbucks) for milky coffees; hot chocolate.