Originally Posted by
GSBEWR
May I ask a serious question, please, without getting slammed, especially since I am not a coffee connoisseur and I rarely drink coffee. Exactly what was wrong with FreshBrew coffee? Was it where they got their beans from? Was it they used the lesser quality beans for their United fulfillment (and used the better beans for other contracts and sales)? Is it the way they process their beans? I know everyone says FreshBrew was terrible coffee. I am just curious what made it so terrible. Also, if it was so terrible, why didn't UA ever get FreshBrew to change and improve their product (I'm sure there had to be clauses in the contract about such issues). Thanks.
To echo others, it tasted awful to begin with, replaced what was a pretty good airplane coffee in pmUA SBUX, and eventually became a proxy for frustration over everything that was wrong with the merger.
I have to believe United was only interested in paying a rock-bottom rate for its coffee, so the easiest explanation is that the beans were among the cheapest FreshBrew could deliver in the requisite quantities.