Keurig Green Mountain Inc. at the end of September launched the long-awaited Keurig Kold system, which will allow consumers to make cold sparkling and still beverages at home with pods from such partners as Coca-Cola Co. and Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
Keurig also was reported close to launching soup pods two years in development with Campbell Soup Co. in homestyle chicken noodle and a Southwest-style chicken noodle for its coffee-making K-Cup system. This would be Keurig’s first foray into food.
The $370 Keurig Kold machine, which resembles the company's hugely popular coffee maker, immediately went on sale on keurig.com and will be sold at select retailers both online and in six cities (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York) beginning in October. The unit will make craft and fountain-style sodas, zero- and low-calorie flavored seltzers and waters, sports hydration drinks, iced teas and – "coming soon," as the company put it – cocktail mixers.
It operates similarly to the coffee makers, too, with the flavors coming from a pod. Carbonation does not require a CO2 canister; instead Keurig Kold uses Karbonator beads, which are contained within the pod and hold beverage-grade CO2. During the drink making process, CO2 is naturally released into the beverage to carbonate each drink. A thermal transfer system will rapidly cool the beverages.
Coca-Cola products will include Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite and Fanta. Dr Pepper products include Dr Pepper and Canada Dry. In addition, Keurig has developed:
- Seraphine zero-calorie seltzers in Mediterranean fruit flavors including Passion Fruit and Persian Lime
- Flyte sports hydration drinks, including Lemon Lime Launch, Red Rush and zero-calorie Overtime Orange
- Waterful zero-calorie, lightly flavored and sweetened waters in Blissful Berry and Citrus Celebration
- Red Barn Craft Sodas made with cane sugar in Cane Cola, Root Beer and Zesty Lemon Lime
- Flynn's Soda Shop fountain classics including Orange Cream, Diet Orange Cream, Root Beer, Diet Root Beer and Vanilla Cream
- Tierney's Iced Tea in still, sparkling and diet versions flavored in Diet Peach, Lemon Mint and Passion Fruit Raspberry.
Meanwhile, PepsiCo is expanding its own partnership with SodaStream International, which sells Pepsi's soda pods for the company's home carbonation machines. The Wall Street Journal reported the increased presence of Pepsi products on SodaStream's website and at about 50 Bed, Bath & Beyond locations in the U.S.
