eNewsletter: August 2009

Welcome to our August 2009 issue with a special focus on small appliances and dining. To view our full rewards online catalog, please visit www.rewardsdirect.com.

• Brand Spotlight: Keurig®
• What People Want Right Now: Small Appliances and Dining

Brand Spotlight: Keurig®

"Brewing Excellence One Cup at a Time®"

The word "keurig" is derived from the Dutch word for excellence, and it is our promise to you. Excellence guides everything we do, from our patented single-cup brewing technology, to the gourmet brands of coffee and tea that are packaged in our K-Cup® portion packs, to our customer service.

Keurig was founded by coffee lovers who believed that coffee should always be served fresh, whether at home or at the office, just as in a gourmet coffee house. They noticed that people were constantly leaving their homes and offices in search of a fresh cup of coffee and asked themselves: "Why do we brew coffee a pot at a time when we drink it a cup at a time?" From this question, the revolutionary concept of Keurig K-Cup portion pack brewing was born.

Today, Keurig is the leading single-cup brewing system in the U.S. for both home and office. Introduced in 1998, Keurig's innovative single-cup brewing system lets coffee lovers brew the perfect coffee, one cup at a time. Now, you can enjoy a fresh cup of gourmet coffee, tea, or hot cocoa Keurig Brewed® in less than a minute, without any set-up or clean-up. Keurig's popular coffee, tea, and hot cocoa brands offer hundreds of K-Cups® to choose from, so everyone will find something to satisfy their taste buds.

The Unique Benefits of Brewing with the Keurig Single-Cup System

People who enjoy gourmet coffee are quickly realizing that Keurig single-cup is the way to make coffee. Their patented single-cup brewing system lets people brew a perfect cup of gourmet coffee without the hassle of grinding beans, measuring coffee, handling filters, or cleaning up. Keurig takes away all the guesswork from brewing a consistently great cup of coffee. 

And, each individually sealed K-Cup portion pack contains the perfect amount of coffee ensuring the precise amount of ground coffee to satisfy every taste profile. The Keurig brewing system also offers a coffee-house-quality cup of coffee for just a fraction of the cost plus the convenience of enjoying your morning cup of Joe in your very own kitchen.

The employees at Keurig understand that the perfect cup of coffee means something different to everyone. That is why they offer hundreds of K-Cups varieties and multiple brew sizes on all of their kitchen brewers. Larger brew sizes do not provide as strong a cup of coffee as the smaller ones - so if you're looking for a stronger, more intense cup of coffee, we offer a smaller brewing size with more potency. It's a better way to enjoy gourmet coffee.

Sharing Their Commitment for a Better Planet

The folks at Keurig are citizens first and employees second! They are committed, as a company, to responsible business practices that sustain our environment for all.

In fact, their parent company Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR) is a leader in developing Fair Trade/Organic coffee blends that are great for coffee lovers, coffee growers, and the planet. Also GMCR is repeatedly cited for best practices in business ethics.

As such, we'd like to share what Keurig, in cooperation with GMCR, is doing to build a better world for both gourmet coffee lovers… and lovers of best practices in corporate responsibility.

Sustainable Packaging

K-Cup Portion Pack Packaging is an area of major environmental concern for all consumer product companies. As the single-cup coffee market and the Keurig brewing systems grow in popularity, the folks at Keurig understand that the impact of the K-Cup Portion Pack waste stream is a significant environmental challenge. The K-Cup package is made up of three main elements – the cup itself, a filter, and an aluminum foil top. The polyethylene coating of the foil, as well as the process of heat-sealing the various elements, makes recycling difficult.

However, this packaging approach prevents oxygen, light, and moisture from degrading the coffee. Without the barrier that the packaging materials provide, the coffee could not maintain its quality and freshness; and all the resources and effort put into growing and roasting great coffee would be wasted. Finding a more environmentally-friendly approach to this packaging challenge is a big priority for Keurig. They are working on a few different fronts to improve the environmental characteristics of the K-Cup system, as well as to mitigate its impact.

Keurig's Environmental Efforts:

• Actively researching alternatives to the K-Cup Portion Pack's petroleum-based materials.
• Conducting a Life Cycle Analysis to help understand the overall environmental impact of the K-Cup Portion Pack as compared to the use of a typical drip-brewer. There are environmental considerations at every step on the road from "tree to cup." By studying the K-Cup over its entire life cycle, Keurig can more clearly understand how and where they can reduce its footprint.
• Working to identify the right definition of "environmentally friendly" for all their packaging, including the K-Cup Portion Pack. For example it could mean carbon-neutral, made with renewable materials, recyclable, biodegradable, compostable, petroleum-free, all of the above, or something entirely different. Keurig is researching what is possible today and tomorrow, taking into account the current state of packaging technology, consumer preferences, community infrastructure, performance requirements, and the demands of the marketplace.
• Continuing to offer the My K-Cup, a reusable filter cartridge assembly that can be refilled by the consumer, is easily cleaned, and is compatible with all Keurig home brewers sold today.

What People Want Right Now: Small Appliances and Dining

As new kitchen items are being created with efficiency in mind, more people are dining in rather than dining out. Here's a list of the top ten small appliances and kitchen items being redeemed from our Rewards Direct Collection.