K-Cup pods and Coffee pods are really not the same thing

There are many differences between coffee pods and K-Cup pods. The only thing that is the same for both of them is that they both have coffee in them and they are single serve. Single serve coffee is just like it is sounds like. It is a portion packed coffee that will give you a single cup of coffee. For many years in the US coffee drinkers would use a coffee maker or a percolator to make coffee at home. American love coffee that is filtered, compare to the Europeans that like expresso and the Turkish coffee in the Arab word.

Let’s explain the references between coffee pods and K-Cup pods

K-Cup pods are a small plastic cup that contained enough coffee for a single cup of coffee. The K-Cups can fit only in the Keurig coffee maker. Each individual plastic cup is filled with a branded coffee and is vacuumed sealed to keep the freshness in tacked. The K-Cup pods come in a variety of flavores of coffee teas hot chocolate and even iced tea and iced coffee. Originally K-Cup pods were produced exclusively by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, until the patent expired. Once it expired all coffee companies started to make K-Cup pods with their branded coffee. That is why today we have Starbucks K-Cup pods, Dunkin K-Cup pods, Gevalia and others.

Coffee pods are in a shape of a pods. They are made out of filter paper, just like what we use in Mr. Coffee filter. They are packed very tight with different kind of coffees. Each individual pods is usually wrapped in a foil material to keep freshness.

About coffee pods

Nespresso was the first coffee pod manufacturer to be launched by Nestle, a Swiss multinational. Eric Favre, an engineer at Nestle, saw a popular Italian espresso bar and had the idea. He noticed that the espresso machine's levers were constantly being pulled by baristas to change the extraction process.

Favre's idea of a simple brewer mimicking the mechanics of an espresso machine was developed over the next ten year. To create a rich layer of crema, the machine added pressurized air to the water and ground coffee. Nestle trademarked the machine in 1986.

Nespresso originally pitched its machines as an all in one, simple-to-use coffee machine that could be used in offices. After they had pitched four different types of capsules to offices in Japan and Switzerland, no one seemed interested.

Jean-Paul Gaillard joined Nespresso in 1988. He wanted to change the way Nespresso machines were advertised. Instead of focusing on businesses, he wanted to market the Nespresso machines to consumers at home as a luxury product. He increased the cost of each capsule by approximately 50%.

The sales started to grow. Gaillard also created "Club Nespresso" or "Le Club" around the same time. This made customers feel like they belonged to a special coffee "lifestyle".

About K-Cup pods

As it is stands from its name K for Keurig the parent company that produced the Keurig coffee machines. For many years before the K-Cup idea came to the world Keurig was manufacturing and services their own coffee brewers for a commercial use. Many coffee shops and restaurants were using Keurig machines.

The big change came in the late 80’s of the previous centaury when Nespresso and others introduced the coffee brewers’ machines for home use.

Keurig, which was losing market share to Nespresso, Gevalia and others launched Keurig2.0 in 2014. 2.0 was praised for its increased customization and flexibility in brewing formats. It also had a scanner that could read the capsule foil lids. It wouldn't brew if the K-Cup did not have their special ink (think Barcode). Only K-Cups that are officially made or blessed by Keurig Green Mountain will work. Consumers who bought the 2.0 thought they could use their preferred brand of coffee again, caused a commotion.

The key advantages of K -Cup pods are:

• The largest selection of flavors. You can buy almost any brand name coffee in a K-Cup pod form such as Starbucks, Folgers, Dunkin and Even Celestial Seasonings.

• These days you can find a compatible K-Cup pods also for a much lower price

• The fast majority of customers reporting a high level of satisfaction of their coffee pods

The key disadvantages of K -Cup pods are:

• The prices of K-cup pods are usually more expansive when it comes to brand name cups. Prices of K-Cup pods can fluctuate from 29 cents per K-Cup all the way to a $1. It depends on availably.

• Recycling of K-Cup pods is a lot more difficult to do since you have to separate the lid from the bottom plastic cup. Coffee pods on the other hand are made from 100% percent recyclable materials.

• In some cases customer were complaining that K-Cup coffee flavor is weaker then compatible coffee pod flavor