I really thought that my store-bought coffee was expensive at around five dollars a pound until I saw K-Cups on sale! I have been familiar with the various Keurig and similar single-cup brewers like Nespresso, Dunkin's, and soon to be available Walmart, but had not given much thought as to how much the coffee really did cost for these convenient brewers. But, at around fifty dollars a pound for the single-cup coffee, the cost did get my attention.
There has always been expensive coffee available for the common drip brewers, but as I am not a coffee connoisseur, I usually stick to the cheap stuff. But, over the past five years we have seen the single-serve coffee business grow in pretty fair number. For example, in 2010 it was 4%, in 2011, it was 7%, and now it is 11% of the coffee market. The big reason? Convenience pure and simple. People like the idea of not having to set up and clean a filter, changing the filter paper, and generally taking 5 minutes to brew an inexpensive cup of coffee. And, for the cost conscious brewer K-Cups do come in a reusable filter cup. But that seems to defeat the convenience factor.
One of the interesting observations that I came across is that the difference in perception in price is generational. People over 40 seem to think in terms of price per pound, and those under 40 think about cost per cup. This sounds like the Starbucks effect. I still find it hard to understand why folks will pay such incredibly high prices for a cup of coffee. And, as if to make it even more insane, they now offer the "steel" card for $450 dollars. $400 for coffee, and $50 dollars for the card itself! P.T Barnum would be so happy to see this ridiculous up-charge.
For a comprehensive article, the New York Times has one here. The one factor concerning K-Cup use that is missing is that we have even more material to send to the landfill. Sad but true and I will stick to the cheap drip system. Just an observation...
There has always been expensive coffee available for the common drip brewers, but as I am not a coffee connoisseur, I usually stick to the cheap stuff. But, over the past five years we have seen the single-serve coffee business grow in pretty fair number. For example, in 2010 it was 4%, in 2011, it was 7%, and now it is 11% of the coffee market. The big reason? Convenience pure and simple. People like the idea of not having to set up and clean a filter, changing the filter paper, and generally taking 5 minutes to brew an inexpensive cup of coffee. And, for the cost conscious brewer K-Cups do come in a reusable filter cup. But that seems to defeat the convenience factor.
One of the interesting observations that I came across is that the difference in perception in price is generational. People over 40 seem to think in terms of price per pound, and those under 40 think about cost per cup. This sounds like the Starbucks effect. I still find it hard to understand why folks will pay such incredibly high prices for a cup of coffee. And, as if to make it even more insane, they now offer the "steel" card for $450 dollars. $400 for coffee, and $50 dollars for the card itself! P.T Barnum would be so happy to see this ridiculous up-charge.
For a comprehensive article, the New York Times has one here. The one factor concerning K-Cup use that is missing is that we have even more material to send to the landfill. Sad but true and I will stick to the cheap drip system. Just an observation...
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