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US: Keurig must face antitrust suit

By  |  April 25, 2019

Keurig Green Mountain must face most of a consolidated antitrust lawsuit accusing the “K-Cup” maker of monopolizing the market for single-serve coffee machines and pods. reported Bloomberg.

Two competing coffee makers and a proposed class of direct purchasers—distributors and retailers, can proceed with their antitrust claims under the Sherman Act and the laws of more than 20 states,a Manhattan federal judge ruled in an opinion unsealed April 24. A sealed version of the 114-page opinion was issued April 3.

Food and beverage distributor McLane and other distributors claimed that because of Keurig’s anticompetitive behavior, it was overcharged on more than US$1.5 billion worth of K-Cups it purchased from Keurig and its licensees; J.M. Smucker and Starbucks Coffee.

In late 2017, a federal court rejected a request by Keurig to dismiss multiple lawsuits charging that it had unfairly monopolize the market for single-serve “K-Cups” used in its popular coffee brewing machines.

Full Content: Bloomberg

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