Patent on KCUPS ends 9/16/12....plan purchases accordingly as prices expected to drop after!

I had heard that even Wally Mart was going to start making their own. (just hearsay, no sources).

I didn't catch the length of contracts in the story, but w/Starbucks and DD already paying GMCR, it seams to me that GMCR has some of the biggest coffee names, at least for the north east. The other coffee our family drinks is New England Coffee.

Gevalia FTW!

I use the Kcups, but they taste like instant coffee to me in a more attractive package.

It is a moot point, since for the mass home consumer market, the KCUP hysteria is basically over. Many, consumers either decided KCUPS were just too expensive per serving or they simply did not like the taste of the beverages brewed through the KCUP brewers vs traditional brewing methods. Then there are socially conscious consumers who believe the KCUP system produces way too much waste. Whatever the reason, the KCUP fad is over. Even Keurig the largest KCUP brewing hardware is refocusing their KCUP effort towards their new VUE brewing machines in an effort to lock in a new generation of consumers in a brewing system that requires yet another proprietary single serve packaging that is not compatiable with the old KCUP system.

Taster's Choice instant coffee ftw!

digitaldoc said:   I use the Kcups, but they taste like instant coffee to me in a more attractive package.

Interesting, I was just thinking how much better the Kcups tasted than the instant coffee at work. I can hardly drink the coffee at work anymore "thanks" to my Keurig.

MISTERCHEAP said:   VicVinegar said:   Something tells me they won't go down very much. As has been pointed out, the big brands are already in bed with GMCR. You might see some "store brand" k-cups pop up, which might not even be worth buying. I like to save money, but if I was so cheap that the quality of the coffee didn't matter, I'd be drinking Maxwell House out of a $20 drip coffee maker.


you'd be surprised. Market share will become the name of the game as well as shelf space on supermarket shelves. All it will take is 2 or 3 new good players in the KCUP market, and you'll see prices drop 25-35%...that's my guess. As far as any store brands go...it all depends who's making the coffee for them.

Actually it already looks like more retailers are willing to discount Kcups now. Besides the recent clearances at Kohls, the local safeway brand (Tom Thumb) had K cups as part of their "$5 Friday" promotion -- marking most of their 12 packs down to $5 for one day. In past years there were NEVER and significant discounts on k-cups.

I was an early adopter of the system, and have probably had 6 brewers over the years counting warranty replacments. Almost made a killing on their stock... my sell order limit was just above where the stock price peaked. (sigh)

kdbrich said:   VicVinegar said:   Something tells me they won't go down very much. As has been pointed out, the big brands are already in bed with GMCR. You might see some "store brand" k-cups pop up, which might not even be worth buying. I like to save money, but if I was so cheap that the quality of the coffee didn't matter, I'd be drinking Maxwell House out of a $20 drip coffee maker.

What's wrong with Maxwell House and $20 coffee makers? Great Value Coffee FTW!!!!! My Gevalia Coffee Maker that cost me $5 on a trial membership does good things with it.

Nothing if that works for you. I was just saying a Keurig user already is choosing to spend more on coffee than the Maxwell House drinker. If it was about being cheap, then you'd just use that setup.

Personally, I wouldn't even have a Keurig if it wasn't given to me as a gift. I have a Melitta "Cup of Joe" device that makes one cup at a time with a #2 cone filter. I think it works great with some freshly ground, good quality beans and an electric kettle and it makes less plastic waste. The thought was that the Keurig would get used for the occasional tea or hot chocolate, but it never does. It is just me making coffee. The Ekobrew type products aren't worth the trouble. I could just use the Melitta and have less cleanup. My B60 is over two years old. If it breaks, I'll probably just give the remaining kcups to someone and reclaim the counter space.

kdbrich said:   VicVinegar said:   Something tells me they won't go down very much. As has been pointed out, the big brands are already in bed with GMCR. You might see some "store brand" k-cups pop up, which might not even be worth buying. I like to save money, but if I was so cheap that the quality of the coffee didn't matter, I'd be drinking Maxwell House out of a $20 drip coffee maker.

What's wrong with Maxwell House and $20 coffee makers? Great Value Coffee FTW!!!!! My Gevalia Coffee Maker that cost me $5 on a trial membership does good things with it.

In my case I was tired of pouring out half or more of a carafe of coffee every day. It costs about the same for two K cups as a carafe and its fresh brewed. For a while I kept my thermal carafe-based coffeemaker for when I had guests -- but the coffee was going stale even frozen. Now I have a kettle and French Press instead and buy small sealed packs for it. Cheaper than K cups, if I have guests.