As an American coffee drinker, you should be no stranger to KCup.
But have you calculated how much a single Kcup costs? If you have no idea, what I want you to know is that if you buy a 12oz/340g bag of ground coffee, it will cost about 15 US dollars, according to a single K cup with content is 10g, 340gram bagged coffee can brew 34 cups. That is 4 cents a cup. Of course, the price will be even lower if you buy 1 pound or bigger bagged coffee.
But a single K cup is about 6-7 cents a cup, and if you buy a branded one, like Keurig/green mountain, it will be more expensive.
So if you are a coffee fanatic and need to drink more than one cup daily, the cost of choosing KCUP will be higher.
So why is KCUP more expensive?
First, let us introduce what is k-cup.
It's like a cigarette for coffee, a single-serve delivery mechanism for an addictive substance. By John Sylvan
This is a joke to express Kcup. It is a plastic cup with a synthetic/paper filter inside, filled with 10-12 grams of ground coffee, and sealed by a 1.0 or 2.0 foil lid.
The first reason is manufacturing process is complicated.
Most coffee roasters need an automatic filling production line to complete filling ground coffee and heat seal Kcup as individual K-cup; some companies even add an auto carton system instead of manual packing to improve automation.
However, this equipment is expensive, and we still need to purchase a nitrogen flush system or syrup/liquid flavor pumping system for flavored cups.
Main manufacturing process, please see below:
1. loading empty Kcup(start inject nitrogen).
2. Auger doser/filler.
3. Tamping coffee and cleaning the rim of Kcup.
4. Dose syrup/flavored liquid(if it is flavored Kcups and use online liquid flavor pump)
5. Place precut lid/online, cutting a lid and heat seal.
6. Heat seal.
7. Picking up finished Kcup and rejecting bad ones.
8. Follow with a conveyor belt to the next packaging if you have cartoner system.
9. Manual packing Kcups in 12ct/24/36 cartons or 48ct/96ct in bulk case if you don't have an automatic cartooning machine.
10. These Kcups are sorted in alternating 1-up and 1-down pattern, and the robot picking system load one group of 6ct/8ct one time in a formed carton; it will load 3 group/times if it is 18ct production.
11. Fold the carton sides, both top and bottom.
12. Seal it with a hot melt gluer system.
As you can see, no matter how you finish cartooning, this isn't very easy. Not to mention that the coffee roaster needs a nitrogen flush system and other optional functions and hires mechanics to handle maintenance for machines.
The second reason is the K-cup packaging material.
Brew single Kcup means one cup of coffee, so you have bought coffee with Kcup packaging material. Unlike bagged coffee, it means it can be brewed over 30 cups of coffee, but only one bag.
Each Kcup has a plastic cup, a synthetic/paper filter, and an aluminum lid.
Unit cost will higher definitely, as I have mentioned before.
There are other non-direct causes. For example, KCUP is difficult to recycle.
It is better to tear off the cover/lid, remove the non-woven fabric/paper filter, and then throw away the plastic cup. These recycling things increase the work.
Consider K-Cup brewer/maker.
This does not end when you have Kcups; you need a brewer.
Let us see different brewers and what kind of ones you should pay for.
If you consider a Keurig coffee maker, it costs 70-280 dollars, but if it is a non-Keurig coffee brewer, it takes 35-180 dollars.
If you are still a fan of Keurig but only used it for home, I recommend three models:
1. K Mini
2. K Express
3. K Slim
Because these two are the smallest in Keurig and are affordable, they will not take up too much space. It is enough for a family or single one to own a coffee brewer with a 42oz/48oz water reservoir.
If you want it for office use, I recommend four models you can have a look at:
1. K-Supreme Plus
2. K155
3. K Supreme Plus SMART
4. K Cafe
I recommend these four because they all have large water reservoirs, which don't need to refill water frequently. And coffee drinkers don't mean only drip coffee; someone prefers Latte or cappuccinos so this model would be a good fit for them.
And these models have better control and more sized choices, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12oz.
In summary
KCUP is mainly expensive because the processing is more complicated and the loss of packaging materials. In addition, recycling such products is more troublesome, making the entire K-cup unit price more expensive.
Please contact us for more information about the Kcup production line and the large inventory of empty Kcups.
Publication Date: 7/11/2023
Category: Product Events
