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“I came to buy Qurig coffee capsules (photo), but they are all sold out. When will they be restocked? “
This is a query that has been continuously posted on the national official website of the American brand of capsule coffee Q League. Kuchen, an appliance company that operates this site and is responsible for Qurig’s domestic supply, is also confused. A Kuchen official said: “I received a unilateral termination notice from Qurig before the expiration of the contract.” It is explained that it is no longer possible to receive Qurig coffee makers and capsule coffee.
○ “Do not do business with the Qurig brand”
It was in June that Kuchen received the termination notice from Qurig. Two months passed before the contract expired in August. At the time, Kuchen was preparing the paperwork for the renovation. However, QLeague explained that it only sent an email saying, “Please stop using the QLeague brand”, and that the communication window was blocked after several inquiries.
Q League is a famous American brand of coffee capsules. Korea’s popularity is low, but in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the consumer base is broad. It was in 2015 when Kuchen joined Qurig. It was the time when major capsule coffee brands such as Nespresso and Dolce Gusto were strengthening their entry into Korea. Kuchen also signed a contract to exclusively import Qurig products for the pod coffee business. Subsequently, it obtained the national sales rights for Qurig coffee machines and exclusive coffee capsules. Kuchen has sold around 20,000 Qurig coffee machines in the last five years. Based on 20,000 coffee machines, it was expected to generate continuous sales of coffee capsules.
This year, following the spread of Corona 19, the craze for ‘home cafes’ where drinks are made at home and the demand for coffee in capsules increased. Kuchen believes that the related business will improve from this year. Of course, it was also planned to extend the contract. As a result, I constantly negotiated with the Q League, but to no avail. “This is the first absurd incident that I have encountered while running a company,” Kuchen said.
○ The damage depends entirely on the consumer
The remaining inventory of Qurig coffee machines in Kuchen is a scale that must be sold for more than 10 years. The biggest problem is that domestic consumers have been prevented from officially obtaining Qurig coffee pods. Kuchen said: “Because Kuchen does not have to be in charge of national distribution, we asked Korean consumers to buy coffee capsules on a stable basis for about two more years, but this was not accepted either.”
Kuchen is appeasing consumers by selling a few remaining coffee pods. It seems that it will be sold out soon. A Kuchen official complained: “We are preparing various measures in case consumers complain of discomfort and go out, but fundamentally there is no way unless Q League supplies them.” After contemplating it, Kuchen made a request to the Korea Fair Trade Commission. Ask for help to reach a friendly agreement with Q League. International mediation is also being considered, but hesitates because it takes too long.
In the home appliance industry, there are observations that the Q-League decided to withdraw entirely because it did not produce the desired results after testing the domestic market through Kuchen. An industry official emphasized that “the domestic supply and sales market is a structure that foreign companies can easily enter or exit at any time,” and emphasized that “systematic safeguards must be prepared for related companies and consumers.”
Reporter Yoon Hee-eun [email protected]
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