Pulling all nighters, getting up for early classes and sitting through hours of lecture are just a few aspects of being a college student. For some students, a quick and easy way to still make it through the day relies on one important thing: coffee.
For senior Emily English, being able to make coffee in the morning was an absolute necessity coming into college. Not only did she want to be able to make a quick cup, she wanted to be able to make coffee mess-free.
Before moving into the residence halls, English made sure the first thing she purchased was a programmable single serve coffee maker.
“I had a friend who had a Keurig, so I decided this was something I needed,” she said.
With one of these, she didn’t have to worry about making her coffee too strong or too weak and didn’t have to deal with messy coffee grounds, she said.
“For me, making coffee in the morning was a must, but as a college student, I didn’t want all the clean up,” she said.
English enjoyed how easy it was and would use her coffee maker at least once a day and even had friends who would come over to use it.
She did say that while her brewer was easy and quick to use, she still continued to pick up coffee when she was out of her room, if she needed one.
“The only downside to [the coffee maker] was that I couldn’t make a coffee if I was out and about,” she said. “I would still buy coffee from Starbucks; I would just buy a large so it would last me the day.”
Jayson Hines, East Wooster Street Starbucks’ store manager, has also noticed the popularity of the single serve coffee maker trend, as he even owns a Keurig himself. Instead of the trend creating competition for Starbucks, the company has decided to join Keurig in hopes of making a profit.
“This is something that has never been done before and this trend is here to stay,” he said. “This is why Starbucks wanted to get involved.”
According to a press release in August, Jeff Hansberry, president of Starbucks Global Consumer Products Group, announced this involvement.
“We are excited to expand our presence in the multi-billion dollar single-cup coffee category with the introduction of Starbucks coffee K-Cup Portion Packs, which offer a convenient at-home brewing solution utilizing the popular Keurig Brewer,” Hansberry said.
English has noticed this addition of coffee companies and said she isn’t surprised since it’s a quick and easy way to make coffee.
“I see more and more coffee companies and brands catching on and I still get emails telling me about new flavors,” she said. “I think this will be a continuing trend, especially in the college crowd.”