Another Senseo Mystery Solved.

Yep!  That's my basic brewer in the image at left.  Great little machine, it is, too.

Thankfully, I have to endure the Walmart 'experience' only once monthly to pick up refilled prescriptions, but today I had another reason for being in that G*d-awful place.

A co-worker recently sent a text saying that he had spotted Senseo Coffee Pods there, asking if I wanted him to pick up a bag, or 2.  I declined the offer, but since I was going there anyway, I took a look for myself.

What I found was not Douwe Egberts, (that I assume is ditching the US market altogether) but a new product from Melitta, a company that has specialized in drip coffee makers and cone filters for years, a good brand. This new product has a catchy name aimed at the educated palate of American world travelers who have put aside the standard American way of brewing coffee (usually weak) for a richer coffee experience.  Ahem!

Sandwiched between cans and bags of ground coffees, in a shelf space about 16" wide,  I found Melitta's new offering,  whereas the Keurig options took up a full end-cap offering all coffee flavours and a variety of brewers, as well. To be fair, Walmart does offer Senseo brewers, but they are not available in stores and all models are "out of stock" on their website.  Funny, that.

Anyhoo.

The new Melitta product is labeled European Indulgence.  I purchased an 18 pod package of dark roast to check it out. Price was a few cents less than the Douwe Egberts from the local markets before they took it off the shelves. There are only a few options available, but the following press release offers an interesting future.

Melitta Introduces New, Premium Coffee Pods to Single Serve Line-Up
Available at Walmart Stores Nationwide
CLEARWATER, Fla. - Melitta, a brand well recognized for exceptional quality, expands its single serve offerings with the introduction of new, premium coffee pods.  Currently available, these soft pods are specially designed to fit all Senseo® and Hamilton Beach® Pod Coffeemakers.  Melitta Single Serve Coffee Pods provide an American audience, increasingly sophisticated about coffee, a convenient way to bring a little European indulgence into their own homes. 
True to its European heritage, Melitta sources only premium, high-grown coffees from the finest coffee- producing regions of the world.  These top-quality, hand-picked beans are then batch roasted and ground extra fine, releasing the full elegance of the coffee's flavor.  The resulting brew is always rich and never bitter.

The new Melitta Single Serve Coffee Pods are available in three varieties:  Dark Roast, Medium Roast and Decaf.  The dark and medium roasts contain 18 coffee pods each; the decaf, 16 coffee pods.

"With Senseo coffee pods no longer available at retail in the US, owners of pod brewers are looking for alternative options.  We're excited about the introduction of Melitta premium coffee pods into Walmart, offering consumers great coffee at a great value," says Chris Hillman, vice president of marketing at Melitta.

Melitta Single Serve Coffee Pods are currently available at all Walmart stores.  A nationwide rollout to major grocery and specialty retailers will continue into the spring.

Stay tuned. Now it's off to work.

And so it goes.
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