Despite not having owned this for some time, I find myself still very observant of the company, products, and stock. Being near to GMCR 'ground zero' in New England, it was easy for me to see this early, and is still a good position to do channel checks.

For example, I noted the expansion in my local grocery of the shelf space dedicated to Kcups and the introduction of the 'grocer branded' instant coffee in Kcups. Starbuck's offering have hit the shelves, and those malicious marketers are offering their packs of cups at just $8.99 compared to the $6.99 for the GMCR and owned brands. Of course Starbucks is only putting 10 cups in the same size package that others put 12 in (has there ever been a more arrogant company?).

But the point of the post was a new product I saw today in 4 blends. This was from 'San Francisco Bay' (Rogers). With the instant coffees, the manufacturers get around the patent by not having filters in the plastic cups, but here -- well, there is filter, but no cup.

http://www.gourmet-coffee.com/onecup.html

Yes I bought some, and it is not bad. I like light coffee and bought the Breakfast Blend. Clever, and a bit of a reduction in shelf space to GMCR brands. On that point I notice Maxwell House has grabbed a bunch of shelf space for multiple blends in Senseo packs. I do not doubt they will attempt to grab (buy?) space with Kcups as soon as they can.

TMFHelical
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