AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer, has announced to team up with Keurig Green Mountain to develop an in-home alcohol drink system. Keurig is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use and is best known for its K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers.
In 2012 Keurig's main patent on its K-Cup pods expired. Since then the company has been trying to adopt its proprietary home brewing machines to brew not only coffee but also soft drinks, cocktail mixes and soups. In September 2015 Keurig Kold, a system for homemade soft drinks backed by official syrups from Coca Cola and Monster Beverage Corp. was introduced but was discontinued last June after its sales flopped. The same happened with single-serve Fresh-Brewed Soup in K-Cup pods, which were developed together with Campbell Soup to be used with the Keurig K-Cup coffee devices.
The new venture between AB InBev and Keurig will “build on the Keurig KOLD technology and system innovations and AB InBev’s brewing and packaging technology, and evolve them within the realm of the full adult beverage category,” the two companies said in a press statement.
Nathaniel Davis, global vice president of innovation and development for AB InBev, will be named CEO of the joined company that will source a combined 50 employees already working at AB InBev and Keurig. At the moment it is not clear if the automatic all-grain homebrewing appliance by PicoBrew Inc., in which AB InBev holds a minority interest, will play a role in the new company.
