Lavazza is bringing its capsule-free espresso tablets to the U.S. to challenge Keurig

Rather than plastic capsules, each Tablì tab is a solid disk of compressed ground coffee — no casing, coating, binder, or gelatin added. Getting to market required building a dedicated manufacturing facility in Gattinara, Italy, and filing more than 15 patents over a five-year development period — an effort rooted in Lavazza's 2020 purchase of Italian startup Caffemotive, according to CNBC.

At launch, tabs will be available in five varieties: Super Crema, Espresso, Double Espresso, Lungo, and Decaf, the company said. The Tablì machine, designed in Italy, comes in three finishes — Graphite Black, Sand White, and Walnut Brown. A milk frother and tab storage holder are also available, the company said.

A bundle including the machine, a 60-count variety pack of tabs, and the milk frother is available for pre-order now at $99.99, discounted from a list value of $249.99. The official U.S. launch follows in August on LavazzaUSA.com, with Amazon $AMZN availability later this year, the company said.

Lavazza CEO Antonio Baravalle said the company is not expecting to displace the two dominant players in the market. "For us, it's important to find our own space, but we are talking about two giants, and one of them, we have an important contract with that we are very happy [with]," Baravalle told CNBC. Lavazza currently sells K-cup pods through a partnership with Keurig.

Euromonitor International data puts Keurig's share of the U.S. fresh ground coffee pod market at around 50%, with Nespresso trailing at approximately 7%. To illustrate the gap in scale, Lavazza's U.S. retail sales — generated through accounts such as Target $TGT and Walmart $WMT — exceed $100 million annually, while Keurig's U.S. coffee segment posted net sales of $3.99 billion in 2025.

Keurig is also pursuing a plastic- and aluminum-free format of its own: K-Rounds, a puck-shaped pod with a plant-based coating developed alongside Swiss manufacturer Delica, is slated to hit shelves this fall.

North America has become a growing priority. The region's revenue climbed 26.9% last year, and Baravalle has outlined an ambition to eventually build a €1 billion U.S. business. "The U.S. is one of the most dynamic markets in the world," Daniele Foti, VP of Marketing at Lavazza North America, said in a statement. "This is our biggest bet on this market yet."