Safeway (SWY +0.7%) becomes the newest competitor to Green Mountain Coffee (GMCR -0.6%), as the...

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Windsun33 Comments (3924)
 
I have heard, but seen no details, on soon to be marketed home appliances in the under $200 range where you can make your own K-cups at home with your own coffee.

If so, that would be a boon to the many small specialty coffee companies.
12 Jun 2012, 03:12 PM Reply Like

Josh Krause Comments (1365)
 
This was entirely forseeable.

GMCR is not dead because of it, though it does hurt a bit. Their agreements with Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks help significantly even though the have to share the profits.
12 Jun 2012, 03:21 PM Reply Like

montanamark Comments (1359)
 
Vons has been selling off brand K-cups for months. This should be a wonderful market, ripe for competition. SBUX K-cups are ridiculously overpriced - almost a buck a cup for mediocre coffee. Since the introduction of off brand I notice repeated sales on SBUX K-cups.
The old ground/packaged coffee looks like it is sitting on the shelves with dust. Those sales have to be down.
12 Jun 2012, 03:39 PM Reply Like

intech Comments (50)
 
gmcr will be at least 75 within the next 6 months!!

MARK MY WORDS.....
12 Jun 2012, 04:35 PM Reply Like

grandcru Comments (3)
 
Von's sell instant coffee kcups. I assume kroger and Safeway are using the same supply company that produces the instant beverage and will be producing ground coffee kcups when the patents expire in September.
Grn Mtn has hurt themselves with the way they treat their distributors. So look for office suppliers and others to start selling non-Grn Mtn cups.
Starbucks is a joke with their pricing. Just bleeding the consumer for average quality coffee. When will consumers wake up to the Starbuck's scam.
12 Jun 2012, 07:58 PM Reply Like

satyr Comments (461)
 
I used a Keurig brewer (with a Green Mountain K-cup) at a friend's house over a year ago, and was underwhelmed. The coffee was not particularly good, and I could not understand the vast appeal.

Is it that hard to brew coffee in a traditional manner? I boil water and pour it through a single-serve cone filter and make the most delicious coffee. It takes a few minutes, and costs substantially less than using a machine. In fact, I enjoy the ritual and look forward to it.

At the time of using the Keurig machine, I thought "this will pass; what a perfect short". Alas, thoughts are not actions. I did nothing and missed an opportunity to make a few bucks. I still have my great coffee, though.
13 Jun 2012, 03:00 AM Reply Like

williasp Comments (167)
 
So if you were underwhelmed with a Green Mountain K-cup, I imagine a generic K-cup will be even more underwhelming (have you ever found a generic that's better than the brand name product?). So who will buy such a bad product? And why would Safeway/Kroger jump into this market? Oh that's right, there are billions of k-cups being sold - so much that SBUX and DNKN wanted in on it.
13 Jun 2012, 04:35 PM Reply Like