The Keurig K-Cup’s Inventor Says He Feels Bad That He Made It. Here’s Why.
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Keurig Green Mountain made in revenue last year.
Much of that money , the coffee-in-a-pod system invented by cofounder John Sylvan.
The product is everywhere.
And its waste is, too, thanks to the fact that the cups are .
“I feel bad sometimes that I ever [invented the K-Cup],” .
Sylvan’s creation is a blessing and a curse.
“[Coffee pods are] the poster-child dilemma of the American economy,” beverage consultant James Ewell . “People want convenience, even if it’s not sustainable.”
Sylvan knew he had a hit on his hands when he the pod mechanism back in the ’90s.
“It’s like a cigarette for coffee, a single-serve delivery mechanism for an addictive substance,” .
But Syvlan, who in the company for $50,000 in 1997, doesn’t own the machine.
“I don’t have one,” . “They’re kind of expensive to use … plus it’s not like drip coffee is tough to make.”
Yet the mix of ease and addictiveness has made Keurig and its peers massively — and quickly — successful:
- In 2008 were sold in the US. In 2013, 11.6 million were sold.
- A found that 1 in 3 Americans had a single-serve coffeemaker, either at home or at work.
- If all the K-cups that were sold in 2014 were laid end to end, the Atlantic , it would be enough to circle the Earth more than 10 times.
Today, Sylvan’s work is very much environmental — , a solar company that claims to make the most cost-efficient solar panel in the world.
Keurig Green Mountain made in revenue last year.
Much of that money , the coffee-in-a-pod system invented by cofounder John Sylvan.
The product is everywhere.
