The consumer industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by convenience, environmental sustainability, health and wellness, aesthetics, as well as the growing importance of food safety and transparency, personalised nutrition, and technologies such as 3D food printer and digital food management. In the last three years alone, there have been over 450,000 patents filed and granted in the consumer industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Robotics in Consumer: Beverage pods.
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 110,000 patents to analyse innovation intensity for the consumer industry, there are 40+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Beverage pods is a key innovation area in robotics
Beverage pods house all the ingredients that are required to prepare a particular beverage. Water is added to the ingredients to create the final product.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each beverage pods and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 10+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established consumer companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of beverage pods.
Key players in beverage pods – a disruptive innovation in the consumer industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to beverage pods
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2021) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| Freezio | 261 | Unlock company profile |
| PepsiCo | 82 | Unlock company profile |
| JDE Peet's | 72 | Unlock company profile |
| Kraft Heinz | 46 | Unlock company profile |
| Anheuser-Busch InBev | 34 | Unlock company profile |
| Nestle | 19 | Unlock company profile |
| Tyson Foods | 14 | Unlock company profile |
| AB Electrolux | 13 | Unlock company profile |
| Mondelez International | 11 | Unlock company profile |
| Royal DSM | 8 | Unlock company profile |
| Robert Bosch Stiftung | 6 | Unlock company profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
Freezio is one of the leading patent filers in the beverage pods space. Some other key patent filers include PepsiCo, JDE Peet's, Kraft Heinz, and Nestle. Recently, Nestle introduced a new coffee machine called Neo, which uses coffee pods that are paper-based, home-compostable and use 70% less packaging.
In terms of application diversity, Royal DSM leads the pack, while Anheuser-Busch InBev and Mondelez International stand in the second and third positions, respectively. By means of geographic reach, Freezio holds the top position, followed by Anheuser-Busch InBev and Kraft Heinz.
Beverage pods will potentially become an important aspect in the consumer industry. With consumers increasingly seeking convenient and easy-to-prepare beverage products, beverage pods will gain increased acceptance among consumers.
To further understand the key Robotics and technologies disrupting the consumer industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Robotics in Consumer.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
