Four entrepreneurs are taking on the world's biggest food company with their coffee pod business.

CafePod, which is based in Lower Richmond Road, Putney, produces coffee capsules compatible with Nespresso machines.

Nespresso, a Nestle brand, currently hold the monopoly on the market with their own capsules previously only compatible with the machines.

A recent landmark court ruling has meant the company can carry on trading, after Nestle lost a high court battle against Mondelez who also make Nespresso compatible pods.

The idea behind CafePod came about when Peter Grainger, of Putney, went on holiday to South Africa and discovered pods compatible with Nespresso.

He joined forces with Brent Hadfield, Philip Banfield and Kate Peers, who achieved a turnover of £500,000 within eight months of trading.

The product is now available to buy in 250 branches of Waitrose and more than 300 Morrison's.

Mr Grainger said: "I was on the last day of my 12-month travels and had been staying with a friend in Cape Town, so went into a specialist shop to buy some supplies for his home coffee maker.

"The owner told me he was selling pods that were compatible with Nespresso machines and I suddenly realised there was a gap in the market in the UK."

Mr Hadfield, 30, of Wimbledon, said: "I could see that the risk of challenging Nespresso was decreasing as the court cases developed and we persuaded family and friends to invest in the scheme.

"Our first thought was to buy coffee supplies and find someone to make the pods, but it was suggested we should invest in a machine to create them ourselves. It proved a brilliant idea."

 

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