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02-07-2016 10:47 AM
Interesting (short) piece about the decline of this appliance. Personally, I don't like the taste of the coffee and find it pretty simple to just brew a pot with a paper filter!
Highlight here (full report here):
Scott Simon: It's not because coffee consumption is down, is it?
Venessa Wong: No, Americans are drinking so much coffee. But Keurig is having some problems as you said. They recently reported their sixth consecutive quarter of negative brewer sales so it's a problem that they've faced for more than a year at this point. ...
I think one of the main problems was they had launched this new brewer called Keurig 2.0. The whole reasoning behind that was that Keurig actually makes most of its money from selling those little coffee pods. And when their patent expired for the coffee pod technology, they figured, well, we'll make a new brewer that will work with only our pods — as other companies started to manufacture their own sort of K-cup products. But consumers didn't like that, so at this point I think we're starting to see some K-cup fatigue.
SS: So are people using the Keurig, waiting for it to become outdated and then they don't use it again, go on to something else or what?
VW: You know, it's really interesting. I think Keurig is often a holiday gift item. In the 2013 holiday season, they sold a record 5.1 million brewers, but that's been declining every holiday season since. We're seeing even interest in Keurigs as a holiday gift perhaps declining.
SS: As I don't have to tell you, there's a debate that's opened up as to whether or not the pods from single-pod coffee brewers are recyclable, actually use less energy — or more energy.
VW: Totally, I mean I think that's one of the biggest problems with a K-cup is that it does have such a negative environmental impact and it's something that Keurig has acknowledged. You know, they have said that this is one of their greatest obstacles to attracting new customers. And they have introduced some products where you can kind of spoon your own coffee into a K-cup-like filter and then make a single-serve coffee like that using your Keurig brewer. But then the question arises, how is this beneficial compared to using the conventional brewer which costs a lot less than a Keurig?
SS: What do you drink at home?
VW: I drink old-fashioned, automatic drip coffee — nothing too fancy. I also have a French press, and I've never found them too cumbersome or time consuming to use.
02-07-2016 10:55 AM
I'm not surprised by the Keurig's negative sales.
I had a Keurig, but sold it and went back to a Mr. Coffee and I love it. It was only $60 and makes the best coffee.
I was spending $75+ per month on Keurig coffee pods; RIDICULOUS!!!!
02-07-2016 11:00 AM
I use the Senseo that came out years ago. At that time my machine was free from the company as a promotion. It is getting harder to find the pods but I will keep searching and hope they don't disappear all together. The pods are just coffee inside a small round sealed filter. 30 pods take up a 10th of the space of the same amount of K-cups. My pods are less expensive. I think one of the reasons for that is the pods take up so much less shelf space at the stores. Every inch of shelf space has a price.
02-07-2016 11:06 AM
It's called market saturation. Everyone who has wanted one already has one.
Same thing is going on with iPhones. This week Apple said they will buy back broken phoes. So insread of fixing your cracked screen, for only a mere few hundred more you can get a new phone!
02-07-2016 11:12 AM - edited 02-07-2016 11:13 AM
My DD couldn't get rid of hers fast enough.
02-07-2016 11:27 AM
Not only are the pods pricey and terrible for the environment, the coffe is very mediocre. I love my French press
02-07-2016 11:36 AM
Thank you for this. It's always good to shine a light on the waste and environmental degradation caused by the use of these coffee makers.
02-07-2016 11:45 AM
I've had my machine about nine years. I pull it out when I get overnight guests. They always say the coffee is good. I won't replace it unless it happens to die.
02-07-2016 12:26 PM
We had one at work and I hated having to 'wait in line' to get a cup of coffee, One girl finally brought a drip coffee maker and that made some of us happier in the mornings.......the Keurig fans still used their's.....
02-07-2016 12:29 PM
@pommom wrote:My DD couldn't get rid of hers fast enough.
Same here!
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