Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/491350
STiR tea & coffee industry international 47 Pods typically measure 44 millimeters in diameter but are pressed as large as 55- and 61-mm. Pods for home brewers contain 7 to 12 grams of ground coffee with larger pods available for office coffee and food service applications. Senseo is the global market leader. Pods have been around since 1959 and enjoy widespread popularity in vending, convenience and food service. Recent innovations suggest pods will also find greater use in the home. A new generation of office coffee machines is introducing consumers to pods, according to Thomas Martin, executive vice president and c.o.o. at Pod Pack Interna- tional in Baton Rouge, La. "U.S. consumers are not very familiar with the pod but once pod distribution pen- etrates the office break areas, consumers will demand the pods for homes, and then we will see an increase of pod brewers through retail outlets. This is exactly what occurred with Keurig after it was introduced in the late 1990's," said Martin. Why pods? Robert A. Melikian, c.e.o. of Automatic Brewers and Coffee Devices, Inc., is the son of K. Cyrus Melikian, the single-cup pioneer who introduced commercial filter pods in 1959. ABCD, located in West Conshohocken, Penn., has been co-packing paper pods for decades. "Consumers discover less coffee is wasted brewing coffee by the cup," said Me- likian. Waste is so significant he predicts widespread use of single-serve pods and cap- sules will eventually reduce the amount of green coffee imports. Pods are also backyard compostable and inexpensive. Consumers no longer price coffee by the pound, but by the cup, explains Martin. "The trend is away from brewing by the pot. Single-cup is exploding," he said. "My concern is that because capsules are quick and convenient customers will settle for a lower level of quality." Martin witnessed several ups and downs since home pod brewers were first intro- duced in the early 2000s. Fabulously successful in Europe, here they debuted with a flash and then fizzled. Recognizing the single-serve potential, all the big coffee companies initially jumped on board with pod programs but manufacturers did a lousy job of making single-serve machines, said Melikian. The failure rate was so high department stores like Target and Walmart limited distribution. Folgers and Millstone soon discontinued their offerings leaving Douwe Egberts and Senseo branded coffees. "It wasn't so much that the old system made a bad cup of coffee, but Senseo in- troduced a design exactly like the European system, except that the brewer was wired for 120 volts. The European system made 4 oz. and 6 oz. cups of coffee. "If you used one pod for a 6 oz. cup, it would be a little thin since the pods only had 6 or 7 grams of coffee," he said. "To make a good 6 oz. cup, you had to use two Senseo pods, which made it seem expensive," said Martin. Brewers sold in Europe are designed for the ESE 44mm pods. Popular brands include Bodem, Illy, Delonghi, Wega and Starbucks. Krups makes both a 44mm and 61mm version. In North America SunCana and Hamilton Beach and BUNN machines use 61mm pods. Senseo, the world's top selling pod brewer, then owned by Chicago-based Sara Lee, withdrew from the market in 2011. "In general there are not enough choices. Distribution is weak. When you don't have brewers, people do not ask for pods. Top roasters do not perceive an opportu- nity," said Melikian. In 2009 commercial brewer manufacturers BUNN and Newco introduced a new generation of pod brewers for office coffee service (OCS). "These brewers are much more advanced in terms of brewing great cups of American style coffee using pods and they are much more durable," said Martin. Prices range from $100 to $300 for manual machines to $900 for the automatic machines. Promising commercial pod brewers including a $750 model from MTN Gearsmith in Buena Park, Calif., were introduced at the recent National Automatic Merchandising Association's Coffee, Tea, and Water Show in Nashville, Tenn. The original Senseo has evolved.