Diving overview:
- Keurig Dr Pepper announced On Wednesday, the company announced that the future of its single-serve coffee pods could include plant-based versions. compostable K-Rounds are an alternative to polypropylene K-Cups.
- round It is made up of coffee grounds.“Pressed and wrapped in a proprietary plant-based protective coating, it preserves coffee flavor and aroma and eliminates the need for plastic or aluminum,” the company said.they will do that It comes in a variety of sizes and is compatible with Keurig’s still-testing hot and cold beverage machine called Alta.
- Keurig plans to continue selling plastic K-cups, and the company reports that 45 million households in the U.S. and Canada already have Keurig breweries using existing pods.Keurig is mailback program The company plans to make it available later this year to consumers who cannot recycle products locally, but the company said it is not yet ready to reveal details about recycling partners or other programs.
Dive Insight:
keurig machine debuted In 1998, single-serve K-Cups revolutionized the way coffee is brewed at home and in the office.In recent decades, the infamous pod It is both an object of environmental criticism and an object of innovation.
Notable milestones include Keurig’s declaration at the end of 2020; The manufactured K-cups were recyclable.and in 2022, Keurig will $10 million class action settlement A 2018 lawsuit alleges that Keurig Green Mountain misled consumers about the true recyclability of K-cups.
inside the company sustainability report Released last year, the company announced it had started making its K-cups lighter, reducing the plastic packaging in each pod by about 18%. The company also offers reusable filters for use in Keurig breweries.
Competitors are also exploring initiatives to improve sustainability. Another major player in the home brewing market is nestle nespresso, has a mailback program for aluminum pods.
Phil Drapeau, KDP’s senior vice president of Future Coffee Systems, said K-cups aren’t going away, but the company has spent “many years” developing this new solution.
The bullet coating is made up of four food-grade ingredients, the main ones being: alginate, typically derived from seaweed, Drapeau said. Keurig is working with TUV to certify bullets as compostable. As a result of the coating, the rounds retain their shape after brewing, so there will be no confusion for consumers, the company says.
“They can just take the pods out and dispose of them like any other coffee grounds,” Drapeau explained. “We’d be happy if the consumer would put it in the compost. It could go in the trash, or they could take it out to the backyard and grind it up and sprinkle the coffee grounds there.”
This round is only an option for consumers purchasing a new Alta brewing system. To develop this system, Keurig licensed the technology invented by Delica Suisse, giving Keurig exclusive rights to use and build on that technology for consumers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Said to have.
Drapeau believes the need for this systems approach lies in the variable sizes of single or double shots of espresso, regular coffee, etc., which is “one of the hallmarks of K Round.”
“Now that we have some freedom from the constraints of K-cup pods and plastic elements, we can actually change the size of those pods themselves. And with that, we can create different styles of beverages that we want. We need to,” Drapeau said.
As for whether compostable rounds will be available to consumers who own existing Keurig machines, “We’re not saying never, but our current focus is on what is possible with K rounds.” “It’s about really developing and delivering the best experience possible for Keurig Alta,” Drapeau said.
Each round is marked with a code, which Alta’s brewers read to determine the pressure and “extraction profile” required for a particular beverage. Drapeau said the company is still considering “several different technologies” to create these codes, including laser etching and food-safe printing.
The company is still deciding what the secondary packaging for the rounds will be, but it will all be recyclable.
It is unclear when Alta brewer and K-Cups will be commercially available. The scope and length of the beta testing period is currently unlimited, but could begin in the fall of 2024. The innovation announcement comes as CEO Bob Gumgort described the at-home coffee category as “sluggish” in 2020. Keurig Dr Pepper’s latest work financial statement.
