Competitive Analysis of Keurig

Green Mountain Coffee Roaster’s Keurig Single Brew system is dominating the U.S. market with an overwhelming market share. Analysts expect sales of single-cup brewing systems to continue to grow in the U.S. and competitors are eyeing a piece of the pie. An analysis of Keurig’s current position, based on Michael E. Porters 5-Forces, highlights a number of key areas of opportunity and risk for the company. Handled correctly, the Keurig product line should continue its growth, however, a number of significant pitfalls threaten its dominance.

This marketing plan will show that the solution to Mr. Coffee’s problem is show that the features and technological improvements, specifically the Wi-Fi option, thermal carafe, and optimal brew temperature feature create a good value and great cup of coffee. The plan will rely heavily on channel and image differentiation. This device will be easier to get than pricey Italian entries and the Mr. Coffee brand will be shown to reestablish brand affinity by keying into pop culture references.

As a shopping product, we can expect considerable planning time involved – as it could be considered a “big ticket item” when compared to the everyday coffee brewer, however with price being part of the marketing mix, we plan to price it competitively with its sister-like products, taking in its additional conveniences and manufacturing costs into pricing and revenue management. Introductory cost projections are in the $220-$250 range. With our image already defined in the small electronics industry, we plan to market heavily on the already in-place reputation.

The alluring aroma of freshly brewed java is both tantalizing and calming to the senses, so much so, that most individuals are unable to fathom a morning or a day without a cup of fragrant, hot coffee in hand. Coffee is one of life’s little indulgences that have become a necessity for some, who find it increasing difficult to live without, as a result, Keurig created an innovative, and unique form of preparation. The Keurig machine makes it possible for a single serving of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or water without the need to clean the machine in between its use. It eliminates the “stale-tasting” waste that results from the remnants of old coffee, which no coffee drinker desires, and it eradicates the need to clean the pot or brew basket, all this in less than a minute!

Keurig Green Mountain Coffee is a company dedicated to providing its customers with the best home beverage making technology as well as the best beverage brands and coffee around the world. They specialize in coffee, tea and coffeemakers. They have a variety of products and product lines that cater to the idea of customizing beverages for the end consumer. This dedication is one that has lasted just over 26 years. While the company initially went public in 1993, it has recently been bought up by JAB Holding Co. in an effort to push the company into a new era of success (Imbert) (Forbes). Keurig’s strong commitment towards environmentally sustainable programs, investment into innovation and strengthening the community’s around it make Keurig Green Mountain an exceptional company to analyze financially and potentially invest in (Forbes).

Although the company is known for their coffee, they also drive a great portion of their revenue from baked good sales, which differs greatly from the Keurig Green Mountain strategy. Dunkin does compete against Dunkin intensely in the New England market, as both companies were founded and based in the area.

Keurig should insist on their plan to launch the new Keurig-Cup even if the GMCR holds the opposite view since it can protect the profits of KAD and roasters when new products are introduced to the market. If Keurig differentiates the at-home market from office market, the previous office brewer users could not go to the direct commercial channel to purchase K-Cups at a lower price (if the at-home used Cups is cheaper). It won’t cause the customer loss of OCS

Company G is one of the top three small appliance and electronics companies in North America. Company G has decided to venture into the beverage category with state of the art coffee brewers to reach its profit potential and achieve customer demand. The new Doppio (pronounced dope-yo) Caffe Brewing System will shake up the Company because of its unique design and the high quality of the materials built right here in the USA. We believe the Doppio Caffe will be superior to any brewing system in the marketplace.

Drip brew coffee makers have existed since the early 1950’s. A drip brew coffee maker is a device that pours boiling water over ground coffee beans in a slow fashion, through the use of a filter system. As the water makes its way through the beans, it absorbs the beans oils and aromas. The coffee grounds are retained in the filter while the coffee is dripped into a pot. German inventor Melitta Bentz introduced coffee filters in 1908. The majority of drip brew coffee makers use paper filters while some use mesh filters. Paper filters are beneficial as they are relatively inexpensive and the filter and grounds can easily be disposed of. Mesh filters are also beneficial as they can easily be cleaned and reused an infinite amount of times. In 1954, the first ever drip brew coffee maker was released onto the market. It was called the “Wigomat” and was the first ever electric drip brew coffee maker. A similar invention that was used to brew coffee in the early 1900’s was a percolator. A coffee percolator is a pot, which allows boiling water to circulate through the coffee grounds until desired intensity is acquired. Many were disappointed with the percolator as it had the tendency to make coffee overly bitter. Hence, in the 1970’s, drip brew coffee makers began to grow in popularity.

Keurig, Inc. was founded on “excellence”, which is the Dutch meaning of its name, and the innovative principle of allowing consumers to be able to make a single excellent cup of coffee whenever they wanted it at home or work with their K-cup single cup brewing system. The Keurig system was such a hit in offices that the company knew the next step was to position themselves to sell units to individuals for use in their homes. At home coffee brewers were always faced with two things loose coffee grounds to clean up and coffee that never quite tasted right. The Keurig system would eliminate both of those issues for the

Keurig Inc has been founded on an amazing idea that coffee making systems that uses individual portion packs of freshly roasted and ground coffee with unique coffee maker designed to brew perfect cup of coffee at a time. At that time there are already established gourmet coffee houses like Starbucks, which is making coffee consumers to spend more money with an average of $ 1.50 or more for a cup of gourmet coffee. This change is consumer behavior created opportunity to Keurig to offer gourmet coffees by a single-cup in offices in 1998. Within a span of four years (1996-2000), Keurig have noticed sales increased by 40% in US at home coffee market. With these facts Keurig´s management got convinced, to develop an at home one-cup coffee brewer especially for gourmet coffee lovers.

Keurig has been successful in selling its coffee brewing system to the office coffee segment (OCS) of the US market. This success led its leaders to ponder entering the consumer market. While making the move might seem like a reasonable next step in the development of the company core business, it also presents unique challenges.

Keurig Inc.’s main concern is how to obtain the position they want in the at-home coffee market

McDonald’s, in addition to several other fast food vendors like Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, Panera Bread and independent coffee houses remain Starbuck’s toughest competition (Adamy). McDonald’s began introducing its espresso beverage products in 2001, and offers its product at a price between two and three dollars to compete with Starbucks between three and four dollars a cup coffee (Adamy). Similarly, Dunkin’ Donuts has recently implemented a plan to expand nationally (Adamy). On average, Dunkin’ Donuts coffee products cost approximately 20 percent less than Starbucks’ (Ball and Leung). In response, Starbucks has announced recent

One of the biggest barriers from GMCR’s standpoint is that they realize they can possible build up sales and marketing for the Keurig system once they start producing and endorsing the product. They are capable of doing so because of the position that GMCR is in as an emerging