By Patrick Avenell

The Astral Bar at Sydney’s Star City was the setting last night for the trade launch of Nespresso by De’Longhi’s three new Citiz machines.

In a refreshing change from the usual mix of executives and middle management, most of the attendees were on-the-ground salespeople.

For them, it was a chance to enjoy a night out as thanks for the work they’d done to make Nespresso and De’Longhi coffee machines so successful.

Guests at the Nespresso Sydney launch

The canapés served included garlic roasted prawns, exploding goat’s cheese croquettes and tandoori chicken pies. Kudos to the bar for providing a selection of beers: Stella Artois, Pure Blonde and Cascade Light.

The chaser for these refreshments was an espresso from one of the six new machines on display. The Nespresso Citiz range includes three models, each in black and white.

The Citiz (RRP $369) is designed to have the smallest footprint possible from a fully featured machine. The Citiz & Milk (RRP $499) incorporates the popular Aeroccino device for milk frothing. Last is the Citiz & Co (RRP$699), which has a double head for a shared coffee experience.

Nespresso commercial manager – Australia & New Zealand, George Garrop, spoke briefly about how happy he was to be introducing the new range and his gratitude to salespeople at retail level for their hard work.

He also announced that Nespresso and De’Longhi would be continuing to support the retailers, with brand advocate George Clooney being retained and a significant print and television advertising campaign planned for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Christmas.

The evening wound down around 10:00pm, at which point some guests disappeared into the night, some into one of the Star City bars, and one journalist managed to double his money playing a few hands of blackjack.