Keurig, is a North American manufacturer of coffee brewers for both home and commercial use. It is a part of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR). Keurig is based in Massachusetts. Their best selling products are the single serve coffee machine Keurig, and the coffee capsules for the brewer.
Keurig was founded in 1992. They then launched their single serve coffee machine and K cup capsules in 1998. The Keurig coffee maker is a capsule machine that has enjoyed immense popularity as one of the earlier successful capsule machines on the market. Capsule machines produce espresso style coffee and are incredibly convenient for the user as no coffee brewing knowledge is required. The choice of capsules include flavored milk based beverages such as cappuccino and latte, as well as hot chocolate.
Keurig and the K cup have come under scrutiny due to the impact of the capsules on the environment. Coffee capsules, as opposed coffee pods, are not bio degradable or recyclable.
In response to this, Keurig released the My K cup in 2005. This is a reusable K cup where the user refills the capsule with ground coffee for each brew. Another initiative was to introduce the Keurig recovery bins, which are purchased by companies to collect used K cups. These used capsules are then sent back to the Keurig waste management company, the coffee grounds are composted and the shells are incinerated in a waste to energy power plant.