Users, vendors not fans of coffee pods
Posted by TheShot on 11 Sep 2006 | Tagged as: Beans, Consumer Trends, Quality Issues
According to an article in today’s Frederick (MD) News-Post, the coffee pod revolution isn’t exactly winning over fans en masse just yet: Users, vendors not fans of coffee pods - The Frederick News-Post.
Citing a recent NPD Group report, the article notes that beyond single-serving convenience, pods don’t exactly represent a step forward in the evolution of better coffee. Also mentioned in the study are coffee pod customers who are “dissatisfied with unreliable machines, pricey refills, the limited selection of flavors and the difficulty in finding coffee pod refills easily.”
The last two aren’t really long-term issues, as they will either be addressed with popularity … or pods will simply be marginalized. The first two customer issues may get better over time — they may not. But one of the big problems I have with pods is the freshness of the coffee — a point that the article makes at the end, where locals instead recommend a French press or a stovetop maker. (The article mentions Melitta, but the description is clearly more like a Bialetti — I’m guessing the reporter got them phonetically mixed up.)
Pods?! ¡Viva la contrarevolución!
3 Comments »
on 06 Nov 2006 at 9:32 pm -06:00T 1.TheShot.coffeeratings.com » Nespresso coffee shops around the world: Why? said …
[...] This posed a great mystery to me. How could a culture so dependent on good espresso seem so smitten, at least from what I could tell, with the mediocre quality of an at-home pod machine and it’s pre-ground, pre-packaged coffee? Personally, I would buy a simple Bialetti long before I’d buy one of these systems. [...]
on 07 Dec 2006 at 12:12 am -06:00T 2.TheShot.coffeeratings.com » What is your coffee lifestyle? said …
[...] Now I can actually understand those countless coffee products out there with the Lexus brand image and the Chevy Impala taste. Afterall, we’ve long had that analog in the wine world — for example, when Orson Welles told us Paul Masson sells no wine before its time, even if the stuff took only four months to make (“Thursday was a most excellent vintage …”). Stale, pre-ground coffee in a sealed capsule — coffee’s answer to instant Tang — is one thing. Marketing to your personal coffee lifestyle is quite another. [...]
on 19 Mar 2007 at 10:37 am -05:00T 3.Espresso News and Reviews - TheShot.coffeeratings.com » Upscale Coffee Makers Drive Segment But Overall It’s Flat said …
[...] But the U.S. isn’t Portugal. According to a recent NPD report, the machines are primarily gift purchases — which should be a warning alarm for the technology right there (remind anyone of Krups circa 1990?). Given that these single serving coffee pod machines use stale, pre-ground beans, these days the home espresso drinker generally has increasingly better quality options among nearby cafés and coffeehouses. Which is why I generally believe the survival of the coffee pod format depends more on the bargain end of the coffee consumer market: it can’t sustain itself in a high-end market, because the quality will always be inferior despite the machine conveniences. [...]