Group 6 Case 2 Keurig At Home

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.

People around the world consume numerous goods every day. There are several things that determine what quantities and how frequently they are consumed and those influences can either work in tandem or act individually to influence a person. It is these foundations that set an average for what consumers will purchase and the volume of goods to be created by agriculturalists and industrialists. This is known as economic consumption patterns, and these patterns are carefully studied by economists. With the data that they glean from this assessment economists can then use that information to provide the economy with data

In recent months many new single-serve coffee brewers have come to market in the United States. These new competitors are offering consumers many new choices and variations of a single-serve coffee brewers. In turn, this is stepping up pressure Keurig to keep up with its competitors and the markets demand. The three competitors that pose the biggest threat to Keurig are Bunn’s MyCafé unit, Starbucks’ Verismo unit, and the Esio beverage system which is backed by Wal-Mart.

During my visits to the coffee shop, I was very surprised that the amount of people that ordered donuts was not as large as I expected. I made that assumption that donuts would be a regularly ordered item because of the variety offered by the coffee house. However, the number of people who ordered donuts were more than those that ordered coffee. I noticed that the majority of people either ordered hot coffee or iced coffee (Figure 1). The other beverages such as, Macchiato, Cappuccino, Latte, Punch, Coolatta and Smoothie were not as popular. Additionally, I observed that many of the customers paid using cash, however the majority

The successful market of Starbucks and other successful coffee houses has made it okay to spend $1.50 or more for a good quality coffee and even more for specialty drinks. Considering the trend in successful coffee houses and the cost of the drinks, it opened the door for Keurig to produce high quality low maintenance units for the home and office. Keurig conducted multiple market research polls to reach its price points, ensuring that once units are released they are something that customers will buy without hesitation. Price points were anywhere in the range of $199 to $299 (Cravens &

Hence, even without the two cup system that would have introduced a physical fence, the “products” offered to the two markets are not equivalent. Therefore, we do not believe that the new Keurig-Cup is a necessary fence to price discriminate between commercial and residential markets.

are waiting for the brewer for the home market. It is also convenient at targeting Keurig-aware

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.

We used the same discount rate, 12%, and took that rate times the product of the number of Starbucks visits/month and average ticket size annualized.

Statistics show that over half of the American population consumes coffee on a daily basis. You may drink coffee hot, cold, mixed, or even in a frappuccino. Individuals are able to make coffee at home, or buy it on the go. Coffee provides people with caffeine, which ultimately gives energy for hardworking people all around the world. The main focus for this paper will cover the following topics, with coffee as the basis: causes for shifts in supply and demand, how coffee supply and demand influence price, quantity,

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

It is possible, albeit unlikely, that the prices shown on these cafe’s websites is different from the prices they actually sell cappuccinos at. I also failed to correct for inconsistencies in cappuccino prices. Cappuccino sizes are not standardized, so I tried to pick the smallest size whenever possible, which varied from “Small” at most cafes to “Tall” at Starbucks to “12 oz” at other institutions. In order to provide a basis for equal comparison, I should have ensured that the cappuccinos in the population had the same price in liquid ounces. Additionally, some coffee shops such as Starbucks include tax in the prices listed on their menus, whereas others do not. The combined effect of the methodological problems and sampling biases leads me to conclude that my sample is most likely biased.

A recent primary research survey has found that 70% of occasional coffee drinkers view the Mr. Coffee brand as an inferior or budget coffee brewing device that does not make a superior cup of coffee (Appendix, Opinion survey). Brands such as Keurig, Cuisinart, and DeLonghi inspire more thoughts of quality coffee than Mr. Coffee. Other consumers are opting to spend several dollars per cup of coffee at coffee houses such as Starbucks, Caribou Coffee, Dunkin Donuts, and even McDonalds (Appendix, Opinion survey).

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.

There are many sellers in the market heating up pricing competition. Competitors like McDonald’s, Dunkin Donuts, Peet’s Coffee and other specialty coffee companies incentivize price wars. Furthermore, coffee’s demand is elastic which makes it difficult to increase prices without greatly reducing the demand. This makes differentiation and positioning very important. Also, it is easy for customers to switch from coffee vendors. Whichever company is most convenient for the customer will likely win the business. Competition is a top priority in the industry.