Marley Coffee going into Single serve coffee maker

by chee leng
(Singapore)

Another coffee company entering into the single serve coffee machine segment. That is the reason why I state that this segment is the most attractive amongst all the coffee segment now. Why? It offers good coffee at the minimum fuss to consumers, and this suits majority of their lifestyle.

The story has it that Marly coffee has teamed up with Bunn (of Mycafe fame) to introduce a new single serve coffee machine that would be using coffee pods using Marley coffee. This coffee machine uses pods that are compostable (I check the dictionary and it meant bio-degradable), so it is environment friendly. In addition, consumers would also be contributing to a cause with their purchase : Marley supports Kicks for Cause, a portion of the earnings are used to build and host soccer camps in Jamaica.

The main technology would be its pulse button that allows users to control the brew time and strength of their cup (currently I believe only Keurig B70 are able to do that).

My $0.02.

I believe ultimately, most if not all coffee company would have their own single serve coffee solution. Evidently, this is the platform that is favored by the consumers. So, if you are not on it, chances are you would missed out on the opportunity.

However, I think the ownership and marketing of own machine is too hassle. The investment cost is too high to convert current users and convince new users that you are the better option.

Personnally, a better option would be to join a popular single serve coffee mcahine maker, i.e. Keurig, Tassimo that serves other variety of coffee and tea on their platform.

They already have the subscriber base and the network, so selling coffee via them is much easier than marketing own brewer.

In fact, even Starbucks did not venture into building of their own coffee machine should highlight the merit of such a venture.

Anyway, single serve coffee is the segment for the next few years where many happenings would be taking place.