Nescafé in United States

Instant coffee was originally invented by a Japanese scientist from Chicago named Satori Kato. He exhibited his invention at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY, in 1901.

After eight years of tinkering in the laboratory, Nestlé revolutionized the way instant coffee was made. Nestlé developed a new process for dehydrating the concentrated coffee which vastly improved the quality. In entailed spraying a fine mist of the solution into a heated tower where the droplets turned to powder almost instantly.

In 1938 in Switzerland, Nestlé had introduced Nescafé, its first nonmilk product; the next year it began to manufacture Nescafé in the United States.

Nescafé targeted primarily American housewives with its experience ad campaign, emphasizing the classiness of a café product combined with the ease of instantly brewed coffee.

During World War II, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States alone consumed more than three-quarters of all Nescafé coffee produced globally. The lion’s share was destined for American troops, as Nescafé was integral part of their field rations. It was so popular that the entire production of its US plant was reserved for military use.

This contributed to popularize the concept of coffee as a drink and made American forces ‘brand ambassador’ in Europe.

By the 1950s, coffee had become the beverage of choice for teenagers, who were flocking to coffeehouses to hear the new rock ’n’ roll music.
Nescafé in United States