Single Serve Decreases Coffee Consumption
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Transcript of Single Serve Decreases Coffee Consumption
We recently addressed the issue of
who drinks the most coffee and it is
the USA.
Now it would appear that the USA
is steadily consuming less coffee,
not because anyone is cutting back
but because of the single serve
revolution.
.Bloomberg Business reports on
how single-serving pods have
decreased coffee consumption.
Single-serve brewing machines
popularized by Keurig Green
Mountain Inc. are now used by
more than one in four Americans
and are altering the way coffee is
consumed.
Almost every brand, from Folgers to
Dunkin’ Donuts, is sold in disposable
2-inch-by-2-inch plastic pods that yield
just one serving. They’re more efficient
than drip-brewing pots capable of
making 10 cups, some of which isn’t
consumed and gets dumped.
While Americans still drink more coffee than any beverage except water, expanded use of single-serve machines has slowed demand growth for a $52 billion market in the U.S., the world’s biggest consumer. That’s hurt sales at a time when ample inventories of the commodity have sent prices tumbling.
One observer says that coffee
farmers have lost their most
lucrative consumer, the kitchen sink where unused coffee poured.
Who Started Single Serve?
Keurig is an American
manufacturer of coffee brewers and producers of K-cups.
Each K-Cup is a plastic container
with a coffee filter inside. Ground
coffee beans are packed in the K-
Cup and sealed air-tight with a
combination plastic and foil lid.
When the K-Cup is placed in a
Keurig brewer, the brewer
punctures both the foil lid and the
bottom of the K-Cup and forces hot
water under pressure through the
K-Cup and into a mug or cup.
From small beginnings this single
serve revolution has moved into
one in four US homes as well as offices and hotel rooms.
And Lots of Plastic
Those of us who like healthy
organic coffee also care about the
environment. As single serve
decreases coffee consumption it
should be a good thing.
But the single serve plastic pods
are an environmental disaster
according to the Montreal Gazette.
The increasing popularity of single-serve coffee brewing technologies is not only decreasing overall demand for coffee in North America, but also producing colossal volumes of un-recyclable and non-compostable plastics.
While the efficiency of these machines
(which help reduce coffee waste) can
be seen as an improvement from
conventional methods of brewing
coffee, arguably, this is offset by the
excessive plastic waste generated
from their use.
Not to mention the amount of fossil fuels used and burned in creating the plastic cups. The amount of coffee wasted from old-fashion coffee machines could be mitigated through a fundamental shift in the North American economic system.
If coffee prices included
environmental externalities, they
would undoubtedly rise and
consumers would be more
economically inclined not to waste their precious coffee.
If you like organic coffee and are
friendly to the environment
consider buying whole bean
roasted coffee, grinding just
enough before making coffee and
enjoying fresh coffee every time.
Along the way you will not be
cluttering up the world with single
serve plastic containers.