Nescafé Dolce Gusto launch Vegan Flat White coffee pods in the UK

Hopping on the Vegan bandwagon, or maybe just anxious not to miss out on the Veganuary season, Nescafé Dolce Gusto are bringing out a range of vegan coffee pods which are available in almond, oat and coconut varieties.

Anna Starostinetskaya from VegNews has most the intel: “This month, coffee brand Nescafé will launch a line of vegan flat white latte pods in the United Kingdom. The new coffee pods—which are compatible with its Dolce Gusto machine—will first be available in almond and coconut varieties, with oat milk-based latte pods to follow, for a suggested retail price of £3.99 for a pack of 12 both on Nescafé’s website and at retailers Tesco and Sainsbury’s. Certified by the Vegan Society, Nescafé developed the pods to tap into a growing trend in the region, where one third of UK households are currently buying plant-based milk alternatives.”

OK, the packaging looks amazing

Just have a look – the packaging looks stunning. A soft, powder blue with dashes of exotic green and splashes of bright, happy yellow covers the box. The pods are two-tone, blue on the front and a coffee-brown casing. And the label has a postage-stamp style textured “sticker” on the front. Nicely done, Nescafé.

The coffee sounds horrible though

Ugh, ingredients “coconut milk powder with soluble coffee and sugar”? We’ll give it a miss, thanks. And who decided that “unctuous” was a good word to describe coffee? Who wants “fatty, greasy and slick” coffee? Back to the drawing board here, marketing guys and gals.

How about the environmental impact?

Capsules are always a contentious subject. But Dolce Gusto have a great recycling partnership with the parcel collection firm CollectPlus which collects their pods for recycling. Have a look here at their recycling page.

According to their website, “The current materials used to make our coffee pods are designed protect the fresh taste of our high-quality coffee, by preserving all the complex aromas and flavours, so you can enjoy your perfect NDG cup. However, this also means they currently can’t be recycled at kerbside.

“But that doesn’t mean you just have to throw them away! We’ve partnered with CollectPlus to recycle Dolce Gusto coffee pods easily. This convenient way to send parcels allows you to return your coffee pods to us via local shops, petrol stations, universities and shopping centres – then we’ll do the recycling for you.”