Reusable K-Cup

TOP TEN OFFICE GIFTS

#10 Small Revelation Travel Mug $2.95

We here at Business Coffee Express are often asked, "What is the best way to take my Green Mountain Coffee wakeboarding?" The answer is this cute little 12-oz. Revelation Travel Mug with a spill-proof, screw-on lid. It features a beautiful scene of the Vermont Green Mountains, and is the perfect size to grab and go whether you are free soloing, sky surfing, or even wakeboarding.  At this price you should buy one for everyone in the office!

#9 Logo Backpacker Thermos $19.95

The sleek, slender shape looks like you after the holidays, thanks to all the wakeboarding you've been doing! This compact, no-leak Thermos®, made by Nissan™ is so stylish it might just put mugs and tumblers out of style. Features an easy-to-open, spring loaded lid. Completely leak proof perfect for backpacks and travel. Double Insulation means your coffee stays hot for hours.

#8 Stoneware Logo Mug $14.95

Perfect for the boss who needs to be reminded on a daily basis that every office deserves great coffee! Each is individually hand-thrown by American master potters. Slight color and size variations showcase the unique properties of each one-of-a-kind mug. Solid and sizable, each of these mugs can stand on its own, but two make a nice pair.

#7 Bodum Milk Frother $19.95

The next time someone in your office tells you not to get worked up into such a lather, say "Why Not?" and show them this! This easy-to-use, battery-powered frother is perfect for foamy milk for your coffee without the hassle of an espresso machine. You will probably decide to keep it for yourself so buy two.

#6 Lake Champlain Chocolates Organic Truffles $22.95

Lake Champlain truffles— on the list because it's made in VT of course, and because they are the best Truffles I've ever had. Sorry Belgium, but cheer up, GMCR will probably never make a $25 raspberry beer aged in oak. Lake Champlain Chocolates has reached new heights with this collection of 15 all-natural, preservative-free truffles. Includes Ethiopian Coffee, Honey Fig, Ginger Lemon, Aztec, Mango, and Vanilla.

#5 Better World Gift Bag $59.95

Isn't dreaming of a better world what the Holidays are all about? Our exquisite chocolates, cocoa, coffees and tea help actually make it happen— plus they taste amazing. Includes 7 fabulous products contributing to a better world and a reusable shopping tote.

#4 Organic Breakfast Crate $37.95

Why a Crate? Because "Crate" just sounds cool, and who wouldn’t rather have a "crate" of something they love rather than just a box? Besides, it doubles as an "In" box. Filled with Fair Trade Organic coffee and Cocoa and Organic pancake mix and maple syrup, all from Vermont.

#3 K-Cup Ultimate Gift Basket $44.95

C'mon, "Ultimate" is right there in the name, of course it has to be in the top 10! The perfect gift if their office already enjoys a Keurig® Brewer. If not, get them one of those too! Our K-Cup Gift Basket gives you great coffee right away, and wonderful sustenance for the rest of the day. Includes 24 Green Mountain Coffee Sampler K-Cups.

#2 The Ultimate Office Gift Basket $49.95

Is it possible for two Green Mountain Coffee gifts to be called "Ultimate" at the same time? Yes, it's a holiday miracle! Packed full of delicious treats, and there’s more than enough to share. Brew up a pot of Breakfast Blend or French Roast while everyone in the office digs in to sweet granola, delicate shortbread, maple candy, or chocolate indulgences. It’ll be the most memorable Holiday coffee break ever!

#1 Keurig Office Pro Coffee Brewer $129.95

Not only the greatest invention in the history of humankind, but perhaps the greatest gift since frankincense and myrrh. (Gold is still hard to beat.) Even small offices deserve great coffee and the B145 Office Pro delivers. Designed for offices with 15 or fewer people, its small footprint makes it a perfect fit for conference rooms, board rooms and reception areas. Guaranteed to ward off office revolts, palace coups, passive-aggressive behavior and Monday sick days. They should rename it "Ultimate."

Coffee lovers and tech-junkies, convenience hounds and kitchen wizards - look what's showed up at GreenMountainCoffee.com today: the new Cuisinart® single-cup brewer.

We heard about it this time last year and now it's finally here: Cuisinart® and Keurig® have teamed up to bring us the Cuisinart single-cup brewer!  Pretty, no?

Ah, but this isn't just about looks. The Cuisinart has many of the features you’ve come to love about Keurig brewing technology, with a few more bells and whistles:

• It has an extra large, removable 80 oz. water reservoir that offers impressive capacity, eliminating the need for frequent refills.


• The hot water button is great for instant coffee, soup, tea, or hot cereal.


• There is a rinse button that instantly cleans the inside of the brew chamber to keep every cup as delicious as the first.

And, of course, there's a few more extras: Included with the brewer are a 12 K-Cup starter variety pack, the reusable My K-Cup filter (which has its own storage area in the brewer), and one charcoal water filter. Click here to read up on all of the brewer's features and specs.

With over 80 varieties of coffee, tea, and hot cocoa to choose from at www.ShopAllKCups.com, its easier than ever for you to enjoy a wide array of hot and cold beverages from your Cuisinart brewer!

Happy Black Friday!  Hope the shopping spree is going swimmingly!

Unless, of course, you haven’t been up since 5 a.m., sorting your flyers and coupons and mapping out your shopping route with precision, a travel mug full of caffeinated joy clenched in your hand?

Well.

If you’re one to avoid the lines, crowds, and frenetic pace that is Black Friday, let’s see if we can help you out with your laid back, clickable, PJ-wearing Cyber Monday with some GreenMountainCoffee.com Top Picks:

1. Our Better World Gift Basket: The reusable, eco-friendly tote overflows with Fair Trade, organic, and sustainable treats.  Fair Trade coffee, tea, cocoa, and chocolate sauce come from farmers who were paid a fair wage. Throw in a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and you have it all: java, justice, and joy.

2. Our Fair Trade Organic Sampler: This sampler includes three 10-oz. bags of coffee to fit every mood – bold and dark with French Roast, sweet and swanky with Sumatran Reserve, and bright and vibrant with Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. With certified Fair Trade and Organic coffees, this sampler is perfect for the socially-minded with a coffee habit that’s never routine.

3. Our Limited Edition Seasonal Coffees: Only available during this time of year, Holiday Blend, Spicy Eggnog, and Gingerbread are all created to complement the special foods and festivities of the season. All three coffees are Fair Trade Certified™, which means small-scale farmers were paid a fair price for their beans. Available bagged and in K-Cups.

4. Our Taste of Vermont Breakfast Gift: Brings the beauty of the Green Mountain State right to your doorstep. This special collection represents the best of Vermont's food artisans, including maple butter and maple syrup fromHighland Sugarworks; Raspberry Preserves from Side Hill Farm; a tin of Lake Champlain Fair Trade Organic Cocoa. Mitzi’s Maple Granola made out of Stowe, Vt. Our own Vermont Country Blend and Breakfast Blend coffees round out your tasty tour of Vermont.

Happy hunting…or clicking!

-Kristen

There is no denying it, reusable bags are all the rage right now. They are convenient, stylish, and of course they are more eco-friendly than using paper or plastic. Here at Green Mountain Coffee, we decided to create a reusable bag for our Better World Gift Basket. We received so many compliments and requests to sell the bags as a separate item, we just had to oblige. Now our Better World Reusable Shopping Bag is available as a three-pack on our website and in our catalog.

 

I use mine for shopping, or just to carry stuff while running errands (you know-- because my purse is never big enough to carry everything!). It is also the perfect size for carrying your Keurig Mini Brewer with a few boxes of K-Cups.

 

Let us know how you use yours!

If you've been visited our blog at all lately, then you know that October is Fair Trade month.  Hooray!  But did you know we've made it convenient to spread the word about Fair Trade by putting together some wonderful Fair Trade gifts?  Share some Fair Trade items this Holiday season.  Friends and relatives can enjoy wonderful Fair Trade treats while you support hard working coffee farmers.  Please consider these gifts:

• Brewing a Better World Gift Bag.  Dagoba chocodrops, Robin's chocolate sauce, Green Mountain coffees, Zhena's Gypsy teas, and a coupon for 1 pint of Ben & Jerry's FT ice cream - all in a reusable tote bag - all helping to build a better world.


• Fair Trade organic coffee sampler.  Three great coffees that help make the world a better place: FT Organic Breakfast Blend, FT Organic French Roast and FT Organic Sumatran Reserve.


• Fair Trade K-Cups.  Did you know we offer over 10 different K-Cups with Fair Trade certified coffee?  Any Keurig brewer owner would love to see these at Thanksgiving dinner or under the tree.

We hope all your gift giving efforts are a success this Holiday.

Hi all -

A few weeks back, Ken posted on this blog, asking readers to submit ideas on what the next K-Cup should be.  That post has been far and away our most popular, with over 600 comments to date and some very interesting and original suggestions.

A few days ago, however, a reader named Roger posted a different kind of comment.  Roger wanted to know why we aren't using compostable K-Cups.  He mentioned that Ben & Jerry's is currently using compostable containers for their pints so why aren't we doing the same with our K-Cups?

Great question, Roger, and thanks for posing it.

The answer is in the technical details relating to how the Keurig system delivers such great coffee.  When you roast and package coffee, elements like oxygen, moisture, and light are enemies of freshness - when the coffee is exposed to any of them, it will decrease the quality and shelf life of the product.  Additionally, when you use your package as a brewing vessel, the package needs to withstand a fairly high amount of heat.  As a result, the package itself (the K-Cup) has to be impervious to the exact elements that are at work (heat, moisture, air, light) when you compost waste effectively.  Without this packaging, all the resources and effort put into growing and roasting great coffee would be wasted - and that would also be a serious environmental impact.

That still leaves us with the question of what we are doing to work on the issue of the environmental impact of the K-Cup though.  Packaging is an area of major environmental concern for all consumer product companies. As the single-cup coffee market and our Keurig brewing systems grow in popularity, we understand that the impact of the K-Cup® waste stream is one of our most significant environmental challenges.

Finding a more environmentally-friendly approach to this packaging challenge is a big priority for us. We are working on a few different fronts to improve the environmental characteristics of the K-Cup system, as well as to mitigate its impact.

Here's what we're doing:

First, we are working to identify the right end goal for the K-Cup. The term “environmentally-friendly” or “sustainable” means different things to different people; it could mean carbon-neutral, made with renewable materials only, recyclable, biodegradable, compostable, petroleum-free, etc. We are researching all these avenues, trying to understand what is possible today and tomorrow, taking into account the current state of packaging technology, consumer preferences, community infrastructure, performance requirements, and the demands of the marketplace.

Second, we have commissioned Life-Cycle Analysis to help us quantitatively understand the environmental impact of the K-Cup. Waste at the end of a process is an important factor in understanding the environmental impact of a product, but impact occurs throughout a product’s life. We want to understand the full impact of K-Cup packaging so we can more clearly understand its real benefits as well as where we can take concrete steps to reduce its impact.

Third, we are continuing to invest in both public and private innovation in packaging. We are looking at ways to improve all of our coffee packaging, while still maintaining the freshness and quality that consumers have come to expect from us. We have made some strides in this area. Our hot and cold beverage cups are made from fully renewable materials. And our new 10 and 12 ounce bags of coffee are made from 19% PLA – a bio-plastic sourced from corn.

Fourth, we are introducing more Fair Trade Certified® coffees into our K-Cup line. We believe that’s good for Fair Trade as well as for our business. Its good for Fair Trade because the K-Cup market is growing quickly; having Fair Trade Certified® coffees in K-Cups helps grow the Fair Trade system and exposes more people to great Fair Trade Certified® coffees. Its good for our business because we know consumers like Fair Trade Certified® coffees when they get a chance to learn what it means and taste it.

Fifth, we offer the My K-Cup product, a reusable filter assembly that can be refilled by the consumer, is easily cleaned, and is compatible with all Keurig home brewers sold today.

I hope that helps explain how we're working to answer the question "How should the next K-Cup be?" - we look forward to sharing our results with you as soon as we can.

5/3/2011 UPDATE:

We appreciate the comments and feedback related to the environmental impact of the Keurig® Single-Cup Brewing System. Since the posting of this blog, we created a webpage on our Brewing a Better World website that has the most recent information on our work to reduce the environmental impact of the K-Cup® portion packs.

Please visit that webpage for the most up to date information on these efforts.

A few highlights from that work include:

-Commissioning a Life-Cycle Analysis that compared single-cup brewing using the Keurig system to drip brewing across a number of environmental dimensions. This analysis indicated that the disposal of a product’s packaging generally represents a fraction of its total environmental impact and that the most significant environmental impact actually occurs in the production of the materials used to create the product. We are acting on this information.

-Investing significant resources in working with packaging suppliers to identify and implement materials changes that will meet our standards for quality and deliver the most significant positive environmental impact, both in the creation and disposal of our packaging.

-Evolving our product design processes and systems by, among other things, educating our engineering staff about sustainable design and establishing in-house Life-Cycle Analysis capability so that we can build greater environmental responsibility into our products and their packaging from the beginning.

"When will you be able to offer a more sustainable K-Cup?"

We hear this question a lot -- from our customers, sure, but also from people throughout our own organization. It's a simple question, but the answers are pretty complex.

Consider for a moment that sustainability means different things to different people. For some it's being carbon-neutral, for others it means being recyclable or made strictly with renewable materials, or a product that's compostable, biodegradable or petroleum-free. That's not an attempt to muddy the waters, but to try to lay out some of the many fronts we're actively researching in order to make K-Cups, and single-cup brewing in general, every bit as ecological as it is convenient.

• We *are* researching alternatives to the materials that currently make up our K-Cups. There's not a lot we can publicly talk about just yet, save to say this is an active effort for us, and an important one.


• We're conducting Life-Cycle Analysis to better understand the entire ecological footprint of the K-Cup. That's more than just its packaging... it's an attempt to evaluate the *entire* footprint -- and to look at both the product's positive and negative attributes.

While our research continues, we continue to take active steps. We're introducing more Fair Trade Certified® coffees into our K-Cup product line. We're promoting the "My K-Cup" reusable single-serve filter, which is compatible with all of the home brewers we offer today. And we recently added recycling codes to those parts of our home brewers that are recyclable.

We intend to continue to improve the ecological impact of our K-Cups until we're all of us satisfied -- customers and employees alike -- that our K-Cups are a winning proposition not only for coffee lovers the world over, but for the world, too.