[1][2][3] In 2016, Keurig Green Mountain was acquired by an investor group led by private-equity firm JAB Holding Company for nearly $14 billion.

[10] They founded the company in 1992,[11] calling it Keurig; Sylvan later said that the name came from his having "looked up the word excellence in Dutch".

[10][20] By 2004, Keurig had a prototype ready for home use, but so did large corporate competitors like Salton, Sara Lee, and Procter & Gamble, which introduced their single-serve brewers and pods.

Keurig capitalized on the increased awareness of the concept and sent representatives into stores to do live demonstrations of its B100 home brewer and give out free samples.

In addition, participating Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants occasionally offer Keurig Single-Cup Brewers for sale.

In November 2012, GMCR released its espresso, cappuccino, and latte brewer, the Rivo, co-developed with the Italian coffee company Lavazza;[37] it was discontinued in December 2016.

[38] In the fall of 2013, the company released a full-pot brewer, the Keurig Bolt, mainly used in offices;[39] it was discontinued in December 2016.

The store features the full line of Keurig machines and accessories and nearly 200 varieties of K-Cups for creating individualized 3-, 6-, or 12-pod boxes.

[43] In January 2015, the company made a similar deal with Dr Pepper Snapple Group, but without a stockholder stake.

[45] The machine brews beverages from The Coca-Cola Company (e.g. Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Fanta) and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group (e.g. Dr Pepper, Canada Dry) and Keurig's line of flavored sparkling and non-sparkling waters and teas, sports drinks, and soda-fountain drinks.

[45] In December 2015, it was announced that Keurig Green Mountain would be sold to an investor group led by private-equity firm JAB Holding Company for nearly $14 billion.

[4][6] In July 2018, Keurig Green Mountain merged with Dr Pepper Snapple Group in a deal worth $18.7 billion, creating a publicly traded conglomerate that is the third largest beverage company in North America.

Each K-Cup pod is filled with coffee grounds, tea leaves, cocoa mix, fruit powder, or other contents, and is nitrogen flushed, sealed for freshness, and impermeable to oxygen, light, and moisture.

Keurig also offers Brew Over Ice pods for cold versions of teas, fruit drinks, and coffees.

[84][85][90][91] The cup portion of the K-Cup is made of #7 plastic, and although according to the company it is BPA-free, safe, and meets or exceeds applicable FDA standards,[85] it cannot be recycled in most places.

[85][87] Even in the few locations in Canada where #7 plastic is recycled, the small size of the pods means they can fall through sorting grates.

[10] In late 2005, Green Mountain and Keurig launched the My K-Cup reusable and refillable pod, which could be filled with any brand of coffee.

Consumer backlash prompted the company to announce in May 2015 that it was bringing back the My K-Cup and making it compatible with the 2.0 brewers.

"[98] In 2015, Keurig Green Mountain's chief sustainability officer stated that every new K-Cup spin-off product introduced since 2006 – including the Vue, Bolt, K-Carafe, and K-Mug pods – is recyclable if disassembled into paper, plastic, and metal components.

[12] James Hamblin, writing in The Atlantic, argues that the level of conscientiousness required to disassemble the cups is somewhat of a paradox to expect from people using a push-button brewing process.

In its 2014 Sustainability Report, released in February 2015, Keurig Green Mountain re-affirmed that a priority for the company is ensuring that 100% of K-Cup pods are recyclable by 2020.

[12] In early 2014, following the announcement of its Keurig 2.0 machines engineered to lock out unlicensed pods, seven competitors and a number of purchasers filed lawsuits in Canada and in various United States federal courts.

[49][109] The complaints contain numerous allegations of anti-competitive actions designed to drive competitors out of Keurig's market.

[110][113] Common allegations of the multidistrict litigation include claims that Keurig improperly acquired competitors, entered into exclusionary agreements with suppliers and distributors to prevent competitors from entering the market, engaged in unwarranted patent-infringement litigation, and unfairly introduced a product redesign that locks out non–Keurig branded cups.

[114] Rogers Family Coffee, one of the plaintiffs in the anti-trust lawsuits, created a "Freedom Clip" allowing unauthorized pods to work in the brewer.

The recall was due to burn injuries reported from water overheating and spewing out of some of the machines, particularly if used to brew more than two cups in quick succession.

[125] In October 2020, Keurig agreed to settle for $31 million an antitrust lawsuit alleging they cornered the single-serve brewer market by making their machines only accept K-Cup coffee pods.

[131] Keurig, Inc. was fully acquired by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters in 2006;[23] at the time, GMCR's founder Bob Stiller was its president and CEO.