Upon its release for home usage in 2004, this single-serve coffee pod company essentially reinvented the morning routine of millions of Americans. That company was keurig. Translating to English, the Dutch word “keurig” means excellence. The inventor of the keurig, John Sylvan, was attending college and decided to pick out a word from a Dutch dictionary in hopes of providing an excellent cup of coffee each time. Although credible for this revolutionary coffee invention, things were not always pleasant for Sylvan. Initially, he and the co founder, Peter Dragone, fabricated the single-serve pods by hand, but experienced great funding complications. This is where Green Mountain Coffee company saw potential in their invention, and evidently decided to invest. Following some complications with both parties, Sylvan and Dragone were forced out, leading to complete ownership of keurig by Green Mountain Coffee in 2006.

The company experienced exponential growth as the years progressed. This is largely credible to the brilliant design of the k-cups, since they are non-reusable. Individuals who utilize this brewer are required to purchase new k-cups regularly. Statistically, the company sold over $300 million worth of brewers, and sell over $800 million worth of k-cups. These single serve pods are also not only limited to coffee, but also offer a variety of teas, hot chocolate, ciders and much more. While there are over 75 different brands of k-cups with 10 of the most renowned coffee companies in the world, one still reigns and dominates the best selling k-cups. That company is named Starbucks.

Starbucks k cup pod products are by far, the most popular k-cup products in the market. Starbucks also noticed the growing popularity of these single serve pods, and are now beginning to manufacture hot chocolates and teas. Coffee pods make up more 33% of all coffee sales in the United States, while Starbucks accounts for the second most k-cup sales following keurig. Starbucks partnered with keurig, allowing them to manufacture their own, cheaper versions of the single serve k-cup.

Sales for the single serve k-cups have tripled since 2011, largely contributed to Starbucks. Individuals who enjoy Starbucks coffee were very excited to see that Starbucks has now branded their name on the convenient, efficient and tasty k-cups. The goal for Starbucks was to make the k-cups fit into the daily routine of their customers, claiming the convenience factor played a huge role. After a year of its release, Starbucks company claimed that their k-cup sales skyrocketed in growth 65% from the previous year. This is where Starbucks realized that these little k-cups played an immense role in their efforts of dominating grocery store coffee isles.

Not only does Starbucks offer coffee keurig pods, they also sell a very popular holiday coffee blend, a peppermint mocha latte, blonde roasts, darks roasts, veranda blends, hot chocolate and various coffee flavors. As a result of the popularity of favorable flavors, Starbucks k-cups in general are an extremely popular grocery store product. For reasons including the brand itself and what it stands for, the unique specialty flavors and the coffee flavor itself, many people will gladly pay the premium price of around $10 per 12 k-cups. K-cups are perhaps the new growth drivers for Starbucks company.