Cafe Cup (Reuseable Coffee K-Cup) – A Marketing Review
Another day, another cup of coffee. Yawn.
Stepping out of the hot shower, you cannot wait for that first cup of coffee. Thoughts of the steaming hot, deliciously roasted flavor flow through your mind as you quickly dress for work. Downstairs in the kitchen, your prized morning drink is waiting.
Rather, the drink will be waiting once you prepare it in your fancy Keurig, single-cup coffee machine. Ripping open a K-Cup, you can’t help but wonder if there’s a cheaper way of having a cup of coffee. Those K-Cups may give you a lot of variety, but they do add up in cost over time. You place the K-Cup into the single-serving coffee machine and press the button, watching in awe as the machine starts working its magic.
“I also wonder if there’s a more environmentally friendly way of having my cup of coffee as well,” you mention out loud to nobody in particular. “Every other month I can fill a small trash can with these empty K-Cups. There’s got to be a better way!“
And then it hits you like a ton of bricks. Just last night you saw a TV commercial for just such a product that may save you some money AND be slightly better for the environment.
Cafe Cup website — www.GetCafeCup.com
It’s the Cafe Cup! Just such a product might be the answer to your K-Cup and single-cup coffee machine woes.
Let’s take a closer look at the Cafe Cup and see how it’s being advertised to us, the general public.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – Would you pay big bucks just for a pound of coffee?
The Cafe Cup TV commercial begins by questioning if we would pay an extravagant amount of money for a pound of ground coffee beans. Some people may choose to pay that much for a premium brand of coffee, but the rest of us simpletons would probably pay between $8-$10 for a pound of coffee.
The bottom line here is this: Those K-Cups are expensive in the long run. I’m assuming that you already are aware of that fact, otherwise you probably wouldn’t be looking for a way of replacing them.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – Could you think of a bigger waste and inconvenience than those little K-Cups? I mean, like, OMG! How horrible!
Not only are those K-Cups on the expensive side, but you have to throw them away!
I can imagine that throwing away those little K-Cups is probably a top concern for many people who use the single-serving coffee machines. It might take what, a month or two of drinking coffee to fill a trash can? Yikes! I can clearly see where that’s a problem for coffee drinkers. I’d hate to have that burden on my shoulders, too.
Supposedly the K-Cups can be recycled, but what little research I’ve done (basically none, I’ll admit it) says that recycling those little cups isn’t as easy as tossing it into your recycling container. If the K-Cups were easy to recycle, then this probably wouldn’t be an issue.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – It’s the Cafe Cup!
Fear not, fans of the K-Cups. Apparently your solution is NOT to buy a regular coffee machine but rather keep using your single-serving coffee machine and switch to the Cafe Cup!
The Cafe Cups are simple to use, washable, and, uhhhhhh, simple to use. You’ll be able to keep using your Keurig single-cup coffee machine in style while staying on the cheap end with larger containers of coffee. Nobody will have to know your secret. It’ll just be between the two of us.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – Put it in there like you mean it.
As if it had to be seen to be believed, the Cafe Cup apparently does fit inside of the sleek Keurig single-cup coffee machines. The machine isn’t going to know the difference either. It’s not going to hold a grudge that you’ve switched to a cheaper method of having your precious cups of coffee.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – And just what brand is that five cent cup of coffee?
Only five cents for a cup of coffee versus the more expensive K-Cup? Are we really making an honest comparison in this example?
To get the price down to only five cents a cup you need to severely drop your standards of coffee. This means picking up the Great Value Coffee brand at Walmart. A cheaper option still would require a shovel, some dirt from your backyard, and a few pieces of grass for extra flavor, but I really don’t recommend that “homestyle” version. Walmart’s website lists a 33.9-ounce container of their Great Value Coffee for only $6.28. The container itself should make about 113 6-ounce cups of coffee. Doing the math, this means that you’re only paying about five cents per 6-ounce cup of coffee.
If you want a “real” cup of coffee, it’s going to be more expensive than scraping roasted coffee bean dust off the bottom of the barrel. Walmart’s website lists a 12-ounce bag of Dunkin’ Donuts brand coffee (regular, not a special blend) for $7.48. The website claims that the 12-ounce bag should make 40 6-ounce cups of coffee. That means that you’re only paying nineteen cents per 6-ounce cup of coffee. That’s less than twenty cents a cup each time for a cup of “real” coffee.
I found a few 18-pack sets of K-Cup coffee (various brands) also on the Walmart website, and the cheaper sets went for around $11.98 for the set. This means that you’re spending about .67 cents per K-Cup of coffee, which is close enough to this comparison scene in the Cafe Cup TV commercial.
The whole “fourteen times the savings” in the commercial is only when you drop your standards to the absolute cheapest brand of coffee. Realistically, you’re looking at only a three to four times the savings. That can still be good money in the long run if you’re a dedicated coffee drinker.
When you do the comparison between the costs of K-Cups versus something “real” like Dunkin’ Donuts regular blend of coffee, you’re looking at a savings of around fifty cents per cup of coffee and not really seventy-five cents or more. If you drank two cups of coffee per day and used a “real” brand of ground coffee beans versus the K-Cups, you’ll probably save yourself around $350-$360 each year. We’ll address this again in a few moments.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – Saving money makes me all warm and gooey inside.
And here we have an obligatory shot of a woman enjoying a fresh and tasty cup of coffee. The tasty part implies that she’s drinking a “real” brand or gourmet style of coffee that most likely costs significantly more than five cents per cup.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – You mean you have to use your hands?!?
As if you failed to grasp the incredibly simple concept the first time around, the Cafe Cup TV commercial shows it to you a second time. Up next is a lesson on turning doorknobs correctly followed by how to use scissors and not stab yourself in the groin.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – A day without being eco-friendly is like a day without sunshine.
Saying that an item is reusable should be enough of an indication that it is, in fact, eco-friendly. Actually putting the term “eco-friendly” in print on the TV commercial shows that whoever created the TV commercial thinks that the target audience is dumber than a rock.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – You mean that I can add another scoop of coffee? Amazing!
In another shocking display of versatility, you can actually add a SECOND scoop of coffee to make your cup extra strong! Groovy! Does this also mean that I can just use half a scoop of coffee if I want mine to be weaker than a normal cup of coffee?
Just think of the savings if you use only half the amount per serving size. I mean, you could knock the average cost of a cup of coffee down to literally two or three cents per cup of Great Value Coffee. Holy cow! Imagine the yearly savings if you took that route!
Cafe Cup TV commercial – The backbreaking work of emptying a trash can full of empty K-Cups.
Yes, I am tired of all the waste. Just look at all of those empty K-Cups. It must have taken at least a month or two to fill that trash can. Sheesh! Don’t those people know that there’s a far better way of enjoying their single-cup coffee machines?
Cafe Cup TV commercial – Just like your underwear, give it a rinse and you’re ready to use it again!
That’s right, people. Send the Cafe Cup through the dishwasher and you’ll be ready to brew your next cup in no time. Just make sure you have other dishes to wash as well, or you won’t be very eco-friendly using the dishwasher for only a couple of items.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – Finally free of being held at gunpoint and forced to purchase those expensive K-Cups.
“There’s finally an alternative to those expensive, disposable coffee cups. I use my own coffee right at home and it saves us a ton of money.”
What’s next? Is this consumer expert going to tell us to save money by taking our cars to an independent mechanic versus the dealership? What about saving money by cooking a meal at home versus taking the family out to Longhorn every night? Maybe she’ll convince us to use an umbrella when it’s raining instead of running around and trying to dodge the rain drops.
Believe it or not, but there are still other methods of brewing coffee rather than using a single-cup coffee machine. Somehow people in this country have been enjoying the hot beverage for hundreds of years.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – Why should I use common sense? It makes my head hurt!
“Why would I buy expensive boxes of single serve pods when I could spend literally pennies per cup? The savings are amazing!”
Here we have another consumer expert who recently discovered the concept of finding a cheaper method of having a cup of coffee.
Why should he spend money on the expensive boxes of K-Cups? Why in the hell does he have a machine that uses K-Cups in the first place? Did it ever occur to him to use a different style of coffee machine if he didn’t like the current (expensive) method?
Wow.
And to think, somebody actually thought it would be a good idea to have these two dumbasses (yeah, I know they’re paid actors and probably not this stupid in real life) in the TV commercial. How much more insulting can you be to your target audience?
I’ll address the point of why people DO buy those expensive K-Cups in a few moments.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – Expect to save money when using common sense and basic research skills.
Again the Cafe Cup TV commercial tries to show how much money you could be saving each year. They take the exaggerated example with Great Value Coffee from earlier in the commercial and expand the savings over the period of a year.
When you use this example with a “real” brand of coffee, such as the Dunkin’ Donuts brand I mentioned earlier (No, I’m not endorsing them. I just picked it because it’s the top selling brand in the supermarkets. I don’t even drink coffee.), you can still expect some pretty good savings. In the previous scenario, I showed the prices per cup between the K-Cup and the Dunkin’ Donuts cup, and it worked out to be a savings of about fifty cents per cup. Two drinks each day for a year means a savings of around $360.
What’s sad is that the Cafe Cup TV commercial could have used this realistic example and still been proud of saving people a ton of money each year. Instead they chose to go for the cheapest coffee in the supermarket (without telling the viewers) to try to get their point across.
Keep in mind that the incredible yearly savings does come at a cost. This will be addressed in just a moment. Hang in there. We’re almost finished.
Cafe Cup TV commercial – It’s the promotion! Hooray!
At the end of the Cafe Cup TV commercial we’re hit with the big sales pitch. It should be an automatic purchase at this point, right? I mean, we’ll be saving ourselves hundreds of dollars each year by taking the cheap route for our coffee.
The regular product is for two of the Cafe Cups and one Cafe scoop. We want more than that, right? The super special TV and Internet offer is for DOUBLE that! I’m talking about FOUR of the Cafe Cups and TWO Cafe scoops! How awesome is that? And to think, we only have to pay an extra shipping and handling fee for that incredible offer.
The TOTAL COST of the Cafe Cups promotion comes to $24.97 ($10.99 + $6.99 S&H + $6.99 (S&H for the “free” items)). That’s about the “savings” you should receive in about fifty cups of “real” coffee. See? You can stop purchasing those expensive K-Cups now.
WARNING – Be careful if you enter your credit card company and press the “Order Now” button. Many of these as-seen-on-TV company websites do NOT give you a final confirmation screen before accepting your CC number.
Cafe Cup website – free shipping information
As an FYI, the TV commercial and website do mention something about receiving free shipping for your order. You have to upgrade your order to the Deluxe Cafe Cups at an additional $9.99 for each set.
FINAL THOUGHTS
K-Cups have helped revolutionize the way people drink their coffee each day. Although the individual containers can be expensive in the long run, people mainly continue to use them for two big reasons: CONVENIENCE and VARIETY.
It’s hard to find an easier way to brew a single cup of coffee at home rather than using a Keurig single-cup coffee machine. You just select a flavor, put it in the machine, and then press a button to activate it. You’ll have a steaming hot cup of coffee in just a moment.
For many people, this convenience factor is huge. There’s no need to open a container of coffee, scoop out the right amount, and then mess with using a filter. Plus you may have to clean parts of the machine if you’re not careful. But with the single-serving machines, it’s just incredibly simple to use and enjoy. Many caffeine-addicted people need such an easy method for those early morning starts. And many of those people don’t mind paying a little bit extra for that convenience factor.
Another reason people enjoy using K-Cups is that you can get them in variety packs. They make great gifts and also help people who enjoy switching coffee flavors throughout the day or week. With the variety packs there’s no need to have half a dozen different coffee containers all open at the same time. But that K-Cup variety comes at a small price. To many people, the price is still worth it.
Remember that paying to use K-Cups in your own home is still faster and cheaper by a long shot than going out and buying coffee each day, whether you hit the drive-thru at McDonalds or walk into a gas station’s convenience store.
Of course it’s cheaper to buy roasted coffee beans in bulk and to scoop out the servings each time. It’s no different than buying a 2-liter of cola versus a few cans, or buying a block of cheese and slicing it yourself versus buying a package of pre-sliced cheese. How about buying a container of pre-diluted anti-freeze for your car versus mixing the solution yourself? They’re filling it with WATER and still charging you a premium price! REMEMBER, YOU ALWAYS PAY MORE FOR CONVENIENCE!
When you have to do the work yourself, no matter how much work it may take, you will almost always save yourself money in the long run. This Cafe Cup product is no different. By purchasing the coffee in bulk and scooping it yourself into the single-serving brewing machine, you can save yourself a lot of money in the long run.
That’s it.
How much money will you spend for a single cup of coffee?
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All of the Cafe Cup commercial images were screenshots of a TV commercial currently available on the product’s website. For more product information, please visit the company’s website at www.GetCafeCup.com.
Cafe Cup is a registered trademark.
RellimZone.com is not affiliated with Cafe Cup, Walmart or Dunkin’ Donuts.
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This article was originally posted at www.chamberofreviews.com on November 2, 2012.
I am trying to research and see if this is compatable with a CBTL coffee maker. k-cups do come in various sizes so, one size does not fit all. Can you answer this for me? Thanks
Weirdly I was helping a guy at walmart pick up some fishing gear in the line I saw 4 of these for 15 bucks here in Alberta i have to say this is a great cup of coffee. Mind you I am drinking Kona coffee right now which in a kcup does not exist but in doing math its 6 bucks for 300grams 10 grms in a k cup which equals 20 cents a cup. Not bad may get a little more who knows but still they make a good cup
THIS IS A SCAM! Very disappointed with CAFE CUP site. When going through check out I Paid more than they advertise. Then, there is no way to cancel your order. I ordered on Saturday, couldn’t call because they are closed until Monday. Called Monday morning to cancel and wouldn’t you know? TOO late to cancel. Order already on the truck. Even though they say 2 – 3 weeks for delivery! This is an out and out lie! I don’t believe it I think it’s just their way to have people keep the orders. DON’T BUY FROM THEIR SITE THEY CHARGE YOU MORE… PLUS SHIPPING. You can do better in your drug store. At least they don’t lie to you.
Speaking from experience, the reusable K-cups are very messy. Scooping the loose coffee grounds into the K-cup inevitably creates a mess. And you have to do that every time you want a cup of coffee. (Or have several of the reusable cups and “pre-make” your stash for the week…) The commercial then shows the lady rinsing out the cup after use–but what did it take to get the hot soaked grounds out of the cup to begin with? Opening the lid, holding it upside down over the trash can and shaking vigorously. Ewww! The cup touched the trash can! Disgusting! Or, use a spoon to scoop out the wet grounds–and damage the mesh cup in the process. The selling point for K-cups is the “no mess” factor. Reusable cups introduce more mess, more often than simply having a 12-cup coffee pot. (At least with a coffee pot you just turn the brewer basket upside down over the trash can and the wet filter and grounds fall out nice and cleanly.) One word of caution on the reusable cups–ground overflow into your cup. There’s no perfect seal made, so grounds can flow up and over the top of the cup if you put too much coffee in. More than 2/3 full and you’ll get overflow. Yuck!