Keurig
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 |
| Type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Coffee maker |
| Official website | https://www.keurig.com/ |
Keurig is a coffee maker brand founded in 1998 by Chris Stevens[1], with the K-Cups by John Sylvan.[2] The company was bought in 2008 by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters.[1] It was later merged into the Dr. Pepper Snapple brand to form "Keurig Dr Pepper".[3]
Consumer-impact summary[edit | edit source]
Freedom[edit | edit source]
Users are allowed to submit right to know, data deletion, and opt-out requests to Keurig. Keurig can also de-identify user data and hold it indefinitely.[4]
Privacy[edit | edit source]
According to the privacy policy for Keurig and Remote Brew for Bean to Cup applications, Keurig Dr Pepper collects user data such as location, device and device usage information, service usage, and data received from third parties about the user.[4] Keurig also has the right to share user data with analytic and advertising partners.[4]
Business model[edit | edit source]
Keurig depends on the sale of cheap coffee makers and licensed K-Cups at higher prices to make a profit.[5]
Market control[edit | edit source]
Keurig produces one of the most popular coffee brewers in North America, as in 2024, shipments for brewers in the United States totaled 10.4 million (+7.3% year-over-year).[6] It has been reported Keurig's userbase is about 40 million in 2024.[7]
Incidents[edit | edit source]
This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Keurig category.
K-Cup DRM (2014)[edit | edit source]
In June 2014, Keurig announced the 2.0 release of coffee makers that were quoted as being the “future of brewing”, though these coffee makers would scan each K-Cup for a special ink mark.[5] While a spokesperson said the technology "allows the machine to optimize brew temperature for different types of cups, and to tell the difference between carafe-size cups and regular ones", an engineer confirmed the technology was based on "anti-counterfeiting technology used by the US Mint".[5] This had been an idea since 2012, as some important patents were expiring and would cause an influx of other branded K-Cups.[8] As a result, third party companies and individuals sued Keurig for anti-competitive behavior, which caused the cancellation of 2.0 K-Cups and a return of the "My K-Cup" system.[8] Since 2015, there has not been any cases of DRM in Keurig products.[9]
Since then, there have been guides on how to bypass the digital rights management (DRM) for those who own a 2.0 machine.[10]
Products[edit | edit source]
- Keurig 525[11]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Allen, Kevin (2017-03-02). "Keurig Co-Founder Talks about Intellectual Property and Entrepreneurship". University of Notre Dame. Archived from the original on 2024-07-29. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
- ↑ Evans, Pete (2015-03-05). "K-Cup creator John Sylvan regrets inventing Keurig coffee pod system". CBC. Archived from the original on 2025-03-11. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
- ↑ "About us". Keurig Dr Pepper. Archived from the original on 2025-03-17. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Privacy Policy". Keurig Dr Pepper. 2024-10-03. Archived from the original on 2025-03-20. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Dzieza, Josh (2015-02-05). "Keurig's attempt to 'DRM' its coffee cups totally backfired". TheVerge. Archived from the original on 2025-03-06. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
- ↑ "Keurig Dr Pepper Reports Q4 and Full Year 2024 Results and Provides 2025 Outlook". Keurig Dr Pepper. 2025-02-25. Archived from the original on 2025-03-28. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ↑ Doering, Christopher (2024-02-12). "Inside Keurig's evolution from single-serve novelty to coffee powerhouse". Food Dive. Archived from the original on 2024-03-04. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Barrett, Brian (2015-05-08). "Keurig's My K-Cup Retreat Shows We Can Beat DRM". Wired. Archived from the original on 2015-05-09. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
- ↑ [deleted] (2023-11-24). "Do new machines still do the "DRM"?". Reddit. Archived from the original on 2025-03-21. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
- ↑ Abel, Jeniffer (2019-03-05). "How to Get around the Keurig 2.0 DRM Restrictions". Rock Paper Coffee. Archived from the original on 2024-12-04. Retrieved 2025-03-21.
- ↑ u/LargeValuesOfTwo (2020-10-07). "Keurig DRM in 2020". Reddit. Archived from the original on 2025-03-21. Retrieved 2025-03-21.