Key patents on K-Cups, the single portion packs used in Keurig brewers, are expiring this year. Rather than lose market share to the competition, Keurig is countering by coming out with new brewers. The upcoming “Vue” brewers will offer a wider range of brew sizes and beverage types as well as temperature control and other features. The list price of the Vue V700 brewer is $249.99
Importantly, the Vue brewer is not compatible with K-Cups — they will use new Vue Packs.
On the bright side, the Vue Packs are made of #5 plastic, which can be recycled once the foil lid, inner paper filter, and contents are removed by many recycling programs.
Revised on November 14, 2019
Except for having greener coffee pods, there is little strategic advantage to the Vue line except for coffee snobs. It raises the complexity for the consumer when ordering the new pods; it forces coffee vendors to support both pod formats for the same coffees; it destroys the simplicity of “just making coffee” by providing more options for every step of the process. Coffee snobs may rush to get the Vue, but K-The 50% increase in cost is simply not justified for K-Cup enthusiasts like myself. I’m hanging onto my less expensive, easier to maintain and use basket brewer as my one-cup brewer finally dies.
The upside to all this, is k-cups can be made by anybody soon, and wider ranges of coffee will be available, i think they may have shot them selves in the foot
Seriously??? It’s hard enough to get a small town market to order K-cups, now you want to change them? Forget it! There will be other choices out there soon. I’ve used a Keurig for many years, but this is a slap in the face! Time to switch to something else.
I agree with Keurig user. The company seems to think that by coming up with new patents they will stay ahead, but their customers are going to get fed up. I just stocked up on k-cups; I’m not switching to a new technology. They could have made a brewer that would accept k-cups and still transition to recyclable packaging to retain their current customers, but they apparently think we’ll all flock to whatever they produce. I’m not biting.
The San Francisco Bay single serves work in an empty Vue pod.
K coffee pods, Vue coffee pods, it reminds me of inkjet printers. Keep introducing new models so the pattent rights makes it more difficult for independent supply producers to legally make and sell replacement supplies. Those $20 ink cartridges is where the money is made.
I saw some K coffee pods at Costco that consisted of the top foil, the coffee filter with coffee inside the filter material, and no bottom plastic.
It looked as if one could use an old Vue pod plastic bottom (minus the top-filter-coffee grounds) and slip the Costco K coffee pods in the old Vue bottom.
My W bought the Vue and I wish she would send it back, but it is too late and me sending it back won’t fly. :(
Solution!! The SoloFill V1 is designed for the Vue. Also can be used as a PERFECT fit adapter to use K-cups in your Vue. Just poke a hole in the side wall/bottom of a K-cup and align the hole with the spout on the SoloFill, perfect! Hope this help all of you.
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