Pursuing Sustainability & Profitability: Brewing Up Disruption at Keurig

Coffee. The aroma, the taste, the ritual. For many of us, it’s a big part of daily life. But it’s fair to say few people spend as much time thinking about coffee as Neha Thatte Mallik, MBA '16. As director of product management at Keurig Dr Pepper, Inc., Neha is on a mission to disrupt the single-serve coffee industry. But let’s rewind.

For this former Johnson & Johnson consumer packaging engineer, finding a way to make sustainability profitable was her ultimate career goal—and the driving force behind her decision to come to MIT Sloan.

“I loved the culture at Sloan. And I wanted to prove that sustainability, when done right, is a great business case.” After meeting with Sustainability Initiative Director Jason Jay during a campus visit, Neha knew she was in the right place.

The summer between her first and second year, Neha did an internship with Keurig. Then again for a month in January. The minute she graduated, the company hired her as a brand manager, trusting her to drive the brand and marketing strategy for the conversion to a K-Cup® Pod made from recyclable materials. 

“I always loved working on consumer products, aiming to solve problems for both consumers and the planet,” she says. But Neha had a vision bigger and bolder than recyclable pods.

Neha Thatte Mallik | Neha Thatte Mallik, MBA '16, Sustainability Certificate

It’s about more than just sustainability. Sustainability alone will not make everyone open their wallet. We must meet a consumer need and make the product in a more sustainable way.

Sustainability Oriented Innovation 

Three years later, as senior product manager, Neha was one of the first members of a brand new team at Keurig called Pod Innovation, where she began work on her mission: a completely plastic-free “cupless” coffee pod.

“At first, I was the only one working on this initiative. Then there were two, then three. Now, it's a fairly robust but nimble team, focused on driving this initiative forward with the mindset of an internal startup” she says. “We now have support with all the different facets, but this project has been like my second baby.”

In 2021, the team pitched its new “cupless pod” to the CEO and the C-suite, not just as a concept, but as an actual product, complete with prototypes, visuals, and a compelling story. 

“It’s a big deal for a company to disrupt itself,” says Neha. “Fortunately, our CEO at the time, Bob Gamgort, got it right away. He understood that if we didn’t do it, someone else would. ‘That’s the future,’ he said, pointing to our prototype. I will never forget that moment.”

The Three-Legged Stool

After three years of research and development, in 2024, Keurig finally revealed its plans for two revolutionary new products—K-Rounds™ Plastic-Free Pods and the Keurig Alta™ brewer. The new pod is simply compacted roasted and ground coffee protected by a plant-based, compostable coating—with no plastic.

“If we do this right, and consumers love the taste, this could become the new single-serve platform,” says Neha, who notes that the team discovered many unlocks that the new technology offers. For one, compacting coffee is more than just a way to hold the coffee together; it actually does what baristas do when they tamp down the grinds. 

“Because that compaction increases the extraction yield, you get better flavor and mouthfeel,” Neha says. “And the plant-based coating, when it becomes wet, actually becomes flexible, allowing us to brew at a higher pressure. This meant we could do authentic espresso, too, which we never could before because K-Cup® Pods couldn’t handle the higher pressure required. But this discovery also meant we had to develop a more powerful, more versatile brewer.” 

All of these breakthroughs give Keurig a path to tap into a new market, with a plastic-free, compostable, plant-based product. “It's a three-legged stool,” Neha adds. “Coffee quality, versatility, and sustainability.”

Because of the team’s startup nature, Neha wore a lot of hats at first—product manager for both the new pods and brewer, go-to market strategist, and commercialization lead. On her coffee innovation journey, she relied heavily on her MIT Sloan education, including what she learned in industrial economics, pricing, and branding courses. An S-Lab experience helped her understand what is important to multiple stakeholders and how to translate that into strategic imperatives. 

“That was important as I worked on the new pod concept because the idea was born not only out of concern for sustainability, but also from a need to address the barriers that have kept some people from owning a Keurig system—the desire for more coffee style options and taste profiles, along with the perception of waste. So, by addressing consumers’ unmet needs, this new pod presents a winning product strategy.”

Disruption 2.0

Keurig is still working on developing prototypes of the new brewer, which will be backwards compatible, so it will still work with K-Cup® Pods, and will be able to make hot or cold coffee and espresso. If all goes to plan, beta-testing will begin in late 2024.  “Once we get it into the hands of consumers, we’ll learn a lot,” Neha says. 

Using what she learned at MIT, Neha proved to herself and everyone else that the right approach to sustainability can result in a positive business case. But she also learned another critical lesson about sustainability innovation along the way.

“It’s about more than just sustainability,” she says. “Sustainability alone will not make everyone open their wallet. We must meet a consumer need and make the product in a more sustainable way.”

Over 30 years ago, Keurig disrupted the industry with its single-serve K-Cup® Pod. About 40 million households now own a Keurig system. Thanks to Neha and a team of innovative colleagues, the company is about to disrupt the industry again. And make the daily coffee ritual better for people and the planet.