Budweiser Owner to Make K-Cup Machine for Alcohol
March 19, 2019 by Douglas A. McIntyrePeople soon will be able to make alcoholic beverages with a K-Cup machine that takes pods for different cocktail types and beer. The new system will be offered by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the parent of Budweiser, and Keurig Dr Pepper, which makes the K-Cup coffee brewing systems.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the new alcohol K-Cup system will be available for preorder for $299. It will also be offered in stores in St. Louis, the location of the Anheuser-Busch North American headquarters. The new K-Cup product is called the Drinkworks machine. A four-pack of pods will cost $15.99.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the device will make three types of beer and several cocktails, including gin and tonic, margaritas and Old Fashioneds. The Drinkworks joint venture between the two companies said it will start to offer the product in Missouri, Florida and California. In addition, ZX Ventures, a division of AB InBev, has started another initiative for the big beer company as it tries to sell beer online.
The currently available Kruger coffee makers have products for both homes and offices. Their K-Café Special Edition Single Serve Coffee Maker sells for as little as $199.99. Their Keurig K3000SE Commercial Brewing System costs hundreds of dollars, depending on how it is configured. Twenty-four pods of coffee cost as little as $14.99. The machines also make tea and hot chocolate. Pods brands include Starbucks, Folgers, Dunkin’ Donuts and several other branded beverages.
The pod machines are made by Keurig Dr Pepper, which had about $11 billion in revenue last year. Keurig Green Mountain and Dr Pepper Snapple Group merged last year to create the new parent company. Revenue growth has been slow, up only 2% last year. AB InBev’s revenue dropped slightly last year to $54.6 billion.
The project will be particularly important to AB InBev. Some of its products have made a list of beers Americans no longer drink. This includes ones with major volume sales drops. Bud Light, Budweiser and Bud Light Platinum suffered sales volume drops of over 20% between 2012 and 2017.
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