Coffee Farmers Are Hurt by Single-Serving Pods Revolution in U.S.
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Call it the most-disruptive development in the business since Starbucks Corp. began the coffee-shop boom in the late 1980s. It might even be the biggest thing since Luigi Bezzera patented the espresso machine in 1901.
Either way, 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.