BY W W W. B U YO R G A N I C C O F F E E . O R G

IS SINGLE SERVE COFFEE

ON THE WAY OUT?

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/No less authority than The Washington Post wonders if America’s favorite coffee trend is coming to an end.

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/They are referring to the single serve coffee pods pioneered by Keurig which still dominates the markets for coffee pods (K-cups) and coffee pod machines.

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/Several years ago, coffee pods seemed invincible. Sales of the single-serve cups were skyrocketing, more than tripling in the United States between 2011 and 2013.

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/Sales of coffee pod machines were soaring, too, growing from 1.8 million units to 11.6 million between 2008 and 2013, according to data from market research firm Euromonitor.

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/Today, however, things aren't looking quite so rosy for coffee in its most convenient form.

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/On Monday, Keurig, which dominates the U.S. market for both coffee pods and coffee pod machines, announced that it sold 7 percent fewer machines during the holidays than it had the year before,

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/the sixth straight quarter in which unit sales fell. The news was particularly disappointing given how crucial the holiday season is for the company.

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/Single serve coffee grew because it is an efficient way to make coffee and it is convenient.

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/This was an especially attractive feature during the depths of the Great Recession.

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/However, as the economy recovers Americans are happy to buy coffee from the drive through at the coffee shop.

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/But another aspect of this situation is that the vast majority of coffee pods are not recyclable and end up in the land fill.

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/Organic Coffee in a K-Cup?

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/Last year we questioned if organic coffee in a K-cup made sense.

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/Billions of K cups go into landfills each year. If part of the reason you drink organic coffee is that you want to protect the environment then even organic coffee in a Keurig K cup is a problem.

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/But there was a solution. Keurig also made refillable K cups under the brand, My K Cup. You could also refill these with any coffee of your choice, which would commonly be cheaper than the coffee from Keurig. Unfortunately that changed.

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/Some years back, thousands of Keurig single-serve machine fans found a cheaper alternative,

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/however -refillable, non-disposable K-cups, little plastic coffee grounds holders, which the company graciously sold under the brand of “My K-Cup.”

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/Not only was it cheaper, but the coffee drinker had more choice, as “My K-Cup” could be filled with any brand of coffee off the shelf.

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/But in August 2014, when Keurig introduced its “2.0” line of coffeemakers, it stopped making “My K-Cup” for it

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/and made the machine incompatible with any K-cups already in existence, as well as with any unlicensed disposable K-cups made by other companies.

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/So Keurig is back to producing little plastic cups to fill up landfills and is enticing environmentally minded coffee drinkers by selling expensive organic coffee in those cups.

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/If there are more environmentally friendly ways to make and serve coffee it appears that environmentally minded coffee drinkers will find them, to the detriment of single serve coffee.

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/Single serve coffee will continue because in places like hotel rooms and for single individuals on the go it is an efficient way to have a cup of coffee but for anyone who serves coffee to more than one person

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/there are more environmentally friendly ways to make coffee and the single serve coffee maker will get moved to storage.