Dive Brief:
- Keurig Green Mountain has announced the initial price of its new at-home cold beverage machine, the Keurig Kold — a hefty $300, which has some analysts concerned.
- In the past, Keurig has subsidized the price of the machine in lieu of the amount of K-Cups a customer will have to buy to use the machine.
- The Keurig Kold will debut online in the fall and will enjoy a broader retail rollout before the 2016 holiday season.
Dive Insight:
Keurig CEO Brian Kelley feels confident in the price, saying, "Consumers see this very different than a coffee machine. This is a new piece of technology," according to Fortune. He also says that cold beverages, which are more diverse, have five times the market potential than hot drinks. Cold drinks are also consumed at any time of day, as opposed to hot drinks, which are more often consumed in the morning, therefore, a cold drink machine may theoretically be used more often.
Other new details about the machine are that the Kold can make drinks at 39 degrees in about a minute, and each drink is an eight-ounce serving. Most varieties will contain 100 calories or fewer.