"A perfect Starbucks Latte at home. And at the push of a button." That's the promise Starbucks is making with Verismo, a one-cup brewing machine that went on sale this week. The machines, priced at $199 (or $399 for a deluxe version), will allow Starbucks fans to brew coffees, lattes, and espressos using single-serve coffee pods that can be purchased for $1 a pop (the pod for milk is an extra 60 cents). The move is considered a direct attack on Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, whose Keurig machine ($99-$189) is the dominant player in the growing market for one-cup brewers. Can Starbucks' Verismo make an impression with customers?
Yes. The market is wide open for more competition: Green Mountain "owns 90 percent of the U.S. single-cup market," says Steven Russolillo at The Wall Street Journal. We should cheer the arrival of a new brand, particularly because the Verismo's coffee-latte-espresso trifecta offers much more than Keurig's plain old coffee maker. Indeed, Green Mountain's share price is "getting battered," an indication that its days of dominance may be over.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
