Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Single serve coffee makers catching on
KARE TV 11 MINNEAPOLIS ^ | 12/15/2005 | AP

Posted on 12/15/2005 8:33:20 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist

A half dozen production lines operate 12 hours a day, cutting small filters and stuffing them into tiny cups, dropping in 2 or 3 grams of coffee and sealing them before whisking them into boxes.

The scores of little coffee containers, known around Green Mountain Coffee Roasters as K-Cups, rolling off the line every few minutes represent what the small specialty brewer hopes will be a revolution in the way Americans brew their favorite roast at home.

The diminutive cups are a self-contained coffee brewing system that can be popped into a relatively new brand of coffee maker to produce a single cup of steaming java. Gone, promoters of the systems say, are the days of a full pot of coffee slowly burning before it's thrown down the sink.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. isn't alone. Brewers large and small, as well as appliance manufacturers, are getting in on the act and pushing the brewing systems as an ideal gift this holiday season for a population addicted to convenience.

"It's an instance of quality meets convenience," said T.J. Whalen, marketing vice president at Green Mountain Coffee. Green Mountain and other small specialty brewers like it are trying to capture the higher end of the market with their more expensive brews and their fancier brewing systems. But companies from Procter & Gamble Co.'s Folgers brand to Sara Lee Corp.'s Senseo and Kraft Foods Inc.'s Maxwell House also are trying to capitalize on what a number of companies believe is an emerging trend in the home kitchen.

The machines have taken off in offices, but a critical mass is only just beginning to be reached where consumers might consider buying them for their homes. Companies as diverse as Mr. Coffee, Black & Decker, Krups and Keurig now make systems that can brew single cups of coffee in as little as 30 seconds using coffee pods -- pockets of grounds that look like oversized tea bags -- and individual cups manufactured by the roasters and food companies.

"We know from different market research that there is a reasonable potential behind this segment," said Lars Atorf, a spokesman for Procter & Gamble's coffee products, including the gourmet oriented Millstone brand. "We can definitely see where awareness is rising in the U.S."

The major brands are hoping that the connection with the gourmet coffee industry can give them an entree to that lucrative part of the market.

The 2005 National Coffee Drinking Trends survey by the National Coffee Association of USA found that more than 172 million American adults consumed coffee and 15 percent -- some 32 million -- said they drank gourmet coffee daily. That's grown from 9 percent six years ago.

That survey also found that nearly two-thirds of consumers were aware of single-serve brewing systems, but only 2 percent reported owning one and 14 percent said they were very or somewhat likely to buy one.

Jon Harris, vice president of Sara Lee Food & Beverage, said the machines are not intended to replace Starbucks stores or the corner coffee shop. He said Sara Lee's hope is that the Senseo brand will complement the ubiquitous coffee houses around the country.

"People are looking for that experience at home," Harris said.

The brewing systems have only been mass-marketed for the past couple of years and there are skeptics about whether they'll take off. Peter Greene, vice president of the NPD Group home appliance marketing research firm, believes they'll never replace the familiar automatic drip coffee makers.

"I don't think your everyday coffee drinker and the majority of the population are going to go in this way," he said. He noted there are limitations to the technology and no uniform pod or cup fits all machines.

And the machines are more expensive than the typical automatic drip system.

A basic Senseo brewing machine is being sold online for $69.99. The higher-end Keurig machine is being sold for between $99.95 and $279.95 for a version that's also marketed for office use.

The coffee that goes into them isn't cheap, either. At a Safeway supermarket in Washington, D.C., this week, a package of Senseo pods good for 18 cups was $3.99, a 13-ounce vacuum-packed brick of Folgers coffee went for $3.95. A box of 24 of Green Mountain's K-Cups is available online for $13.95, while a 12-ounce bag of beans goes for $8.19.

Still, NPD Group's market tracking has determined that a little better than 4.5 percent of the estimated 27 million coffee brewing appliances sold this year will be single-serve systems, up from roughly 1.5 percent of the market last year.

"It all depends on how you define success," Greene said. "I'd say these are going to be a success, but only 5 percent of the market."

But some of the disadvantages of the systems can be especially amplified in homes where people often expect a superior brew, said a coffee reviewer. One are the machines themselves. There's no industry standard, at least not yet, and the coffee pod or cup that works in one machine often isn't compatible with another.

And the other issue, a bigger one for a coffee aficionado like Ken Davids, editor of Coffee Review, is the coffee that goes into the machines. Quality varies widely, he said.

"Some of these coffees taste flat-out stale," Davids said late last month as he was halfway through blind tastings produced from the single-serve machines.

Davids is not impressed, although there are some decent coffees available.

"It's a cafe-at-home if you consider powdered milk, sugar and instant as a cappuccino," he said. "If you consider freshly brewed espresso and fresh-frothed milk a cappuccino, it's not."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: coffee
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 161-180 next last

1 posted on 12/15/2005 8:33:21 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
I have always been a fan of the D cup.

A K cup boggles the mind.

2 posted on 12/15/2005 8:39:33 PM PST by FreedomFarmer (Facts without theory is trivia. Theory without facts is socialism.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

I've got one of those single serving machines- it makes about 10 ounces of espresso- what I call a single serving.


3 posted on 12/15/2005 8:41:29 PM PST by AlbertWang
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
Already got one.


4 posted on 12/15/2005 8:42:19 PM PST by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
I'm drinking Starbucks, iced, black, no sugar daily from 8am until 6pm.

5 posted on 12/15/2005 8:45:36 PM PST by I see my hands (Until this civil war heats up.. have a nice day.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

Some of us roast our own in small batches before brewing. Instant is for "coffee pussies".


6 posted on 12/15/2005 8:46:02 PM PST by HolgerDansk ("Oh Bother", said Pooh, as he worked the bolt.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FreedomFarmer

LOL..K Cup must be Kong sized


7 posted on 12/15/2005 8:46:08 PM PST by RTINSC (Being Offended is the Natural Consequence of Leaving Your Home...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: HolgerDansk

BUMP


8 posted on 12/15/2005 8:46:32 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist (None genuine without my signature)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

I've got one of the Senso machines and it works great for that occasional cup of fresh brew.....

But in the early AM.....nothing beats two pots (not cups) of coffee......my standard staple....


9 posted on 12/15/2005 8:47:31 PM PST by nevergore (“It could be that the purpose of my life is simply to serve as a warning to others.”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Coffee is to be savored.

Roast, grind, brew. I'm still working on mastering roasting my own, but the rest of the process is down pat. It only takes a few minutes before bed and after I take my morning shower. Why cut the quality for a couple of minutes saved?

And friends don't let friends drink Starbucks (or Peets, Seattle's Best, Tullys, Folgers or any other crap)...


10 posted on 12/15/2005 8:49:19 PM PST by FreeHueco
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

My chiropractor's office has one. So far I like it, but I am undecided if I want one for home.


11 posted on 12/15/2005 8:49:41 PM PST by Enterprise
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: I see my hands

Starbucks is the best..I've been a fan since 1991.


12 posted on 12/15/2005 8:50:01 PM PST by RTINSC (Being Offended is the Natural Consequence of Leaving Your Home...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido

That ain't coffee.


13 posted on 12/15/2005 8:50:55 PM PST by rattrap
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

We batchelors know the art very well, of using a family-sized coffee maker to make just 1 cup for ourselves.

This could help lessen our humiliation each morning. Thank you, Green Mountain.


14 posted on 12/15/2005 8:53:44 PM PST by SteveMcKing ("No empire collapses because of technical reasons. They collapse because they are unnatural.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FreeHueco

I don't roast my own, but I don't use preground at all...good beans fresh ground is important to really enjoy a proper cuppa...


15 posted on 12/15/2005 8:53:57 PM PST by Knitting A Conundrum (Act Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly With God Micah 6:8)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: FreeHueco

"And friends don't let friends drink Starbucks (or Peets, Seattle's Best, Tullys, Folgers or any other crap)..."


Perhaps you should just enjoy your coffee and not make silly statements about what other should or should not people enjoy.


16 posted on 12/15/2005 8:54:50 PM PST by RTINSC (Being Offended is the Natural Consequence of Leaving Your Home...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

I use single-serving packs of Folger's. They're pretty good, actually.


17 posted on 12/15/2005 8:55:23 PM PST by Alien Gunfighter (Socialist liberals never imagine themselves as peasants under their 'perfect' socialist regime)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: FreedomFarmer

"Gone, promoters of the systems say, are the days of a full pot of coffee slowly burning before it's thrown down the sink."

Never happen at our house!

What I don't drink of 2 12 cup pots of coffee in the morning the wife finishes.


18 posted on 12/15/2005 8:56:36 PM PST by dalereed
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: rattrap

True, but it's more palatable that caffeine pills. Almost. :-)


19 posted on 12/15/2005 8:57:54 PM PST by Larry Lucido
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist
Here's mine:

Roast my own beans, grind them fresh, instant-hot filtered water dispenser = zero to phenomenal coffee in less than two minutes. Slightly longer for my triple espresso.

20 posted on 12/15/2005 8:58:53 PM PST by Hank Rearden (Never allow anyone who could only get a government job attempt to tell you how to run your life.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 161-180 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson