Coffee giant selling cups recalls 7 million coffee machines

After 90 scald accidents were reported, Green Mountain Coffee announced on December 23 that it would recall more than 7 million Keurig's MINI Plus Brewing System machines in the United States and Canada, mainly because they may spray hot liquid and scald users during use.

According to a report released by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the recalled Krieger coffee machines include 6.6 million units sold in the United States and 564000 sold in Canada. The report also details the batch, color and model of the recalled coffee machines.

The coffee machines, made by factories in China and Malaysia between the end of 2009 and July 2014, are sold on the official online websites of large retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and Krieger, Krieger said. consumers who have previously bought coffee machines can contact their companies and get free repairs.

The company has received about 200 complaints about superheated liquid splashing, including 90 burns, the report said.

Founded in 1981, Green Mountain Coffee has become a "coffee giant selling cups" in the United States because of its famous single-cup coffee marketing model. After the acquisition of Krieger, which focuses on coffee machines, Green Mountain Coffee has successfully entered 13% of households in the United States with its special single-cup coffee maker and Krieger K cup, which makes only one cup of coffee at a time. Green Mountain Coffee's business is also limited to the United States and Canada.

The key to this model is that Green Mountain Coffee outsources all its coffee machines to Chinese and Malaysian suppliers and sells them almost at cost, and what really makes money for it is the Krieger K cup used with the coffee machine.

In fiscal year 2013, Green Mountain Coffee achieved operating income of US $4.358 billion and net profit of US $484 million. 92% of the revenue was contributed by the Krieger coffee machine and its matching K-cup drinks, while the revenue of K-cup alone reached US $3.187 billion.

The Green Mountain Coffee model has also attracted investment partners. In February, Coca-Cola paid $1.25 billion for a 10 per cent stake in Green Mountain Coffee, which will become the official producer and distributor of Coca-Cola-branded family beverage systems. Coca-Cola has also signed a 10-year domestic cold drink system agreement with Green Mountain Coffee to develop and introduce Coca-Cola's global brand portfolio into Green Mountain Coffee's family beverage system called "Keurig Cold", and will promote the system globally. Among them, the household self-service cold drink machine under development can enable consumers to make their favorite drinks at home. In mid-May, Coca-Cola again announced that it would increase its stake to 16%.

Now, for Coca-Cola, which is struggling with revenue growth, the news is undoubtedly even worse.