Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/491350
50 STiR tea & coffee industry international Newest version of Senseo pod brewer. ers 1753, now owned by Joh. A. Beckiser (JAB) is the most successful pod brewer with 17.7% global market share and 8.6% of global value. The machine took several years to develop before it was introduced in the Netherlands in 2001. Within three years five million households in five countries re- placed their drip machines with a single-serve Senseo. In 2003 first-year sales in the U.S. were $750 million. By June 2005 the joint venture of Philips Electronics and Douwe Egberts, which supplied the coffee, had sold four bil- lion pods and 10 million brewers. DE Master Blenders subsequently bought out Phillips and by 2008 had sold 20 million machines. Newer models were introduced with milk reservoirs to make Cappuccino, Café Latte and Latte macchiato with the same pods by blending milk with the brewed coffee (not espresso). Initially the only coffee made for the ma- chine was marketed under the Douwe Eg- berts brand, a line not well known outside Europe. Sara Lee patented the pods and pod holder in 2001 and later obtain an injunction against the marketing of coffee pods that fit the Senseo. Court rulings in Belgium in 2004 and in Europe in 2006 removed patent pro- tection for the pods. The ruling ended the monopoly and many companies including Kraft Foods were soon producing filter pods for the Senseo. Kraft also introduced the Tassimo system, a competing low-pressure brewer. The competition drove down margins and since the cost of the brewer was underwritten in part by coffee sales, Sara Lee withdrew the brewers from the North American market in March 2012. Joh. A. Beckiser purchased Peet's Coffee & Tea and later Caribou Coffee later that same year and in 2013 purchased DE Master Blenders (DEMB) leading to specula- tion the pod brewers would re-enter the market with a larger selection of popular coffee from Peet's and Caribou. Folger's recently began producing filter pods compat- ible with Senseo brewers and in October a spokesman on the Senseo Facebook page wrote: "Please know that we are working to bring the original model Senseo machines back to the North American market." In December I was advised "to stay tuned to the page for updates on availability of the original model machines, we'll be sure to share updates on timing as soon as information is available." Future of single-serve Single-serve machines are almost exclusively limited to the higher income regions globally, according to Euromonitor. Germany is among the largest markets for coffee pods, thanks to established successes like Tassimo, Senseo, Nespresso and Nescafé Dolce Gusto. Retail volume sales are expected to more than double there by next year. Japan leads all Asia-Pacific countries in pod sales, and is expected to double its sales once again by 2014, according to Euromonitor. Keurig, which holds top market share in North America, plans to introduce its brewers in Europe next year. Nespresso meanwhile is expanding with new store open- ings in the U.S. and Canada. See: The Nespresso Exception, March issue STiR Tea & Coffee Industry. Euromonitor estimates Western Europeans will invest an extra $2.2 billion annu- ally in fresh coffee during the next five years. "Come 2017 the regional market will be worth $19.6 billion, the size of North and Latin American combined. And they are prepared to pay a premium to prepare it properly."