Keurig to launch Peet’s-brand K-Cups
Starbucks agrees to end exclusivity deal with the maker of the single-cup drink pods.
Keurig Green Mountain Inc. has struck a series of deals that will increase the kinds of company-approved coffee and tea that K-Cup customers can buy.
In one, Seattle coffee giant Starbucks Corp. agreed to end its status as the exclusive super-premium coffee brand for Keurig’s singlecup pods that fit in Keurig brewing machines. Starbucks said in a statement Friday that the agreement was made in exchange for Keurig expanding its range of Starbucks products.
Also on Friday, Keurig said it had signed a manufacturing and distribution deal with Peet’s Coffee & Tea Inc. of Emeryville, Calif., to provide Peet’s-brand pods for Keurig machines.
The announcements indicate a bit of a course change.
Just last May, Starbucks and Keurig announced the extension of a five-year deal to make and sell the popular single-serve beverage pods under the coffeehouse chain’s Starbucks and Tazo brands for use in Keurig’s brewing systems.
That deal seemed to reinforce Starbucks’ position as the exclusive premium coffee brand for Keurig’s KCups.
Company officials said brand ties remain strong.
Mark Wood, senior vice president of global hot systems for Keurig, said the amended agreement with Starbucks “creates more favorable business terms for both companies and allows us to build upon our strong relationship.”
Aside from the company-sanctioned K-Cups, customers can use third-party pods in Keurig machines. But those non-Keurig cups don’t add to the Waterbury, Vt., company’s profits.
The website Techdirt recently reported that Keurig might have plans to squeeze out competition from other makers of single-cup pods.
According to Techdirt, a lawsuit filed by TreeHouse Foods Inc. says Keurig is developing a version of its coffee maker that will incorporate technology that will brew only Keurig-licensed pods.