Microtrace is suing TreeHouse Foods for breach of contract for allegedly using its trade secrets to make Keurig-compatible coffee pods. In 2014, a Min

Minnesota company replicated Keurig’s K-cups, alleges former customer stole its coffee pod tech

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2024-10-06 10:30:04

Microtrace is suing TreeHouse Foods for breach of contract for allegedly using its trade secrets to make Keurig-compatible coffee pods.

In 2014, a Minnesota tech company helped a generic coffee-pod maker crack Keurig’s top-secret ink signature so its knockoff pods could work with the newest versions of the popular single-serve coffee machines.

Now the tech company, Blaine-based Microtrace, is accusing TreeHouse Foods of reverse-engineering its own reverse-engineered breakthrough.

TreeHouse allegedly broke contracts “by using, relying on and reverse-engineering taggant ink, confidential information and trade secrets provided by Microtrace in a way that was not permitted,” according to a federal lawsuit filed this week.

Chicago-based TreeHouse Foods, a $3.4 billion manufacturer of store-brand and private label groceries, did not respond to a request for comment.

When Keurig released its next-generation coffee machine in 2014, the devices came with a sensor that would recognize only Keurig-brand K-cups with a special “fingerprint” in an attempt to ward off competitors. Without this unique chemical “taggant” printed on the coffee pod, the brewer wouldn’t work.