Many of the commenters on my Keurig 2.0 Model K550 Coffee Brewing System review, and those at Amazon and other online retailers, said they were through with Keurig machines if they were restricted to using only official Keurig coffee pods. Reasons varied from the higher prices charged for the Keurig-branded pods, to concern for the amount of non-recyclable waste generated by the pods, to a simple desire to use the brand and roast of coffee they prefer. These weren’t idle threats, either, because The Washington Post reported: “Worse for Keurig, as executives acknowledged Wednesday during its quarterly earnings briefing, sales of Keurig machines tanked and they began to accumulate on the shelves across the country. Sales of brewers and accessories declined by 23 percent, the company reported. Its stock price fell 10 percent in after hours trading.”
Brian Kelley, the company’s CEO, has announced that they have realized their mistake, and he said the company will reintroduce a reusable My K-Cup that can be used with the version 2.0 machines. Customers will again be able to use their own coffees in the 2.0 machines using the reusable pod. I wonder if Keurig will completely drop their attempt at restricting the use of non-licensed, disposable pods in the next version of their machines? Sounds like that might be a good idea to consider, anyway.
Source: The Washington Post
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Sales and the stock price most likely put them over the edge.
But I think the various lawsuits were also a factor. Taking away the consumer’s ability to use their own coffee was a huge change in the service of the machine.
I’m interested in what happens with the lawsuit from San Francisco coffee. They have a compelling case that their ecologically-improved pods offer the consumer an important benefit that Keurig’s DRM pods don’t have.
I have a feeling that business schools will soon be studying the Keurig 2.0 marketing as a classic business problem. And a disaster if Keurig doesn’t figure out a way to redeem their image.
For $9.99, I bought last October 2014 at Walgreen a set of 4 after market cups. They are plastic and wire mesh. They work perfectly in the Keurig 45 that I bought at the same time. For coffee, I pay $3 or $4 per/lb at Costco. Why anyone would pay $25 per/lb or more with the Keurig brand cups or the other brands is a mystery to me!
In addition to the extravagant cost for a cup of coffee, the disposable cups must be an environmental nuisance.
About a month ago, I read in interview with the inventor of the K-cup. He stated that he regretted ever inventing them, in light of the waste the cups have created.