A 12-year-old antitrust case against Keurig, the coffee pod business of Burlington-based Keurig Dr Pepper, is headed for a jury. A federal judge in New York denied Keurig’s request to end the case before trial on its central claims, ruling that a California coffee company can try to prove Keurig used its market power and exclusive contracts to shut out rival pod makers.
U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick of the Southern District of New York issued the 139-page opinion on Sept. 18, 2026. It was unsealed last week. The Boston Business Journal reported on Oct. 26 that the plaintiff, Rogers Family Coffee Co., is seeking about $400 million in damages and that the case is heading to trial in Sacramento.
What the judge decided in the Keurig antitrust case
The ruling came in In re: Keurig Green Mountain Single-Serve Coffee Antitrust Litigation, a consolidated case first filed in 2014. Keurig had asked the court to rule for it on every claim without a trial. Bloomberg News reported that Broderick narrowed the scope of the case but denied the company’s bid to dismiss its core allegations.
According to the plaintiff’s summary of the opinion, the judge let these claims go to trial:
- whether Keurig held monopoly power in the markets for single-serve brewers and pods,
- whether agreements Keurig signed with roasters, suppliers and distributors, which barred them from working with unlicensed pod makers, shut out competitors,
- whether Keurig illegally tied the sale of its brewers to its pods, and
- false advertising claims tied to Keurig’s statements about competing pods.
The opinion found some of those statements “literally false,” according to excerpts released by the plaintiff. They include claims that unlicensed cups hurt the performance of Keurig’s 2.0 brewer and posed safety risks. The court also barred one of Keurig’s defenses, known as in pari delicto, from being used at trial.
The ruling dropped several theories, including claims based on Keurig’s retail agreements, its 2.0 brewer redesign and its earlier patent lawsuits, the plaintiff’s summary said.
Size of the claims and the trial timeline
Economists for Rogers Family Coffee estimated about $390 million in antitrust damages before any tripling allowed under federal antitrust law, plus about $109 million in disgorgement tied to the false advertising claims through mid-2025, the company said in its Oct. 21 announcement. Those are the plaintiff’s estimates; a jury has not decided any damages.
Rogers Family Coffee, which does business as JBR Inc. and sells San Francisco Bay Coffee, first sued in federal court in the Eastern District of California and has asked that its case go back there for trial. In a June 9 order, Broderick told the parties in that case to meet by Nov. 16, 2026, and propose a schedule for pretrial exchanges or a return to California by Dec. 7, 2026. For any trial held in New York, he asked the parties to say when in the second quarter of 2027 they would be available.
Why it matters for Keurig Dr Pepper and Massachusetts
Keurig Dr Pepper keeps a co-headquarters in Burlington, and the company has been building up its coffee business in Massachusetts. The Business Journal has reported that Keurig Dr Pepper raised $7 billion toward its purchase of Peet’s and later closed an $18 billion deal that the paper said sets up the state to be a global coffee hub.
Rogers Family Coffee claims that Keurig has held more than 85% of the market. That figure is the plaintiff’s allegation, and whether Keurig held monopoly power is one of the questions the jury will decide.
Burlington’s large corporate base helps fund the town, as The Boston Report explained in its guide to Burlington property tax rates and bills. Another Massachusetts consumer brand is also expanding: Framingham-based Bose is acquiring Skullcandy. For more, see the Boston business and economy section of the Boston News hub.
What the parties have said
The Boston Report did not find a public statement from Keurig on the ruling in the sources reviewed for this article.
“This is a huge win for us,” Rogers Family Coffee CEO Lisa Smoot said in the company’s announcement. “Our family company has been pursuing justice for over a decade.”
Daniel Johnson Jr. of Dan Johnson Law Group, the company’s lawyer, said: “For twelve years, Keurig has tried to keep this case from a jury, and on the issues that matter most, it has failed.” He said the company looks forward to presenting its evidence to a California jury.
Sources
- Boston Business Journal: A long-simmering antitrust suit against Keurig will head to trial (Oct. 26, 2026)
- Bloomberg Law: Keurig Must Face Coffee-Pod Monopoly Allegations, Judge Says (Oct. 22, 2026)
- Business Wire: Rogers Family Coffee Co. announcement on the court ruling (Oct. 21, 2026)
- U.S. District Court, S.D.N.Y.: Scheduling order in In re: Keurig Green Mountain Single-Serve Coffee Antitrust Litigation (June 9, 2026), via Justia
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