Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is a publicly-traded brand of coffee based at Waterbury in the U.S. state of Vermont. The brand specializes in organic, fair-trade, and specialty gourmet coffees. Keurig is wholly owned subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., and sells many of their coffee varieties as K-Cups.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters was ranked #1 in "The Best Corporate Citizens" in 2006 [ [http://www.business-ethics.com/media/Chart%20of%20100%20Best%20Corp%20Citizens%20for%202006.pdf Business Ethics 100 best corporate citizens 2006] ] and 2007 [ [http://www.thecro.com/files/100BestGatefold.pdf Business Ethics 100 best corporate citizens 2007] ] .

Overview

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is a specialty coffee company based in Waterbury, Vermont. The company roasts 100% Arabica coffees and offers over 100 different coffee selections, including certified organic, Fair Trade Certified, estate, signature blends and flavored coffees that sell under the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Newman’s Own Organics brands. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters offers one of the largest selections of double-certified Fair Trade organic coffees in the country.

In June 2006, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters acquired Keurig, Incorporated, a manufacturer of single-cup brewing systems. Keurig sells its single-cup brewers, coffee and tea in K-Cups produced by a variety of roasters in domestic wholesale and retail markets and directly to consumers. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters offers a broad selection of K-Cups for use in Keurig brewers, including Extra Bold coffees and Hot Cocoa as well as Newman’s Own Organics coffee and Celestial Seasonings tea brands, which are packaged and sold by Green Mountain Coffee.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters went public in September 1993 and is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the stock symbol GMCR.

History

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters began in 1981 as a small café in rural Vermont, roasting and serving coffee right on the premises. Demand quickly grew beyond the walls of the café, with local restaurants and inns asking the company to supply them as well. While the original café is no longer open, the company now maintains its headquarters in Waterbury, Vermont where it has a 90,000 square foot roasting and distribution facility. The company’s operations are supplemented by regional distribution centers in Maine, Upstate New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

In October 2006, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters opened a Visitors’ Center and Café within the restored Waterbury Train Station.

Reputation

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters contributes at least five percent of its pre-tax profit annually to support socially responsible initiatives and has a history of supporting social and environmental causes. For six years, the company has been listed on SustainableBusiness.com’s SB20 list of The World’s Top Sustainable Business StocksFact|date=July 2007 for being a world leader in terms of both sustainability and financial strength. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has been ranked No. 1 on the list of “100 Best Corporate Citizens,” now published by CRO magazine, for the past two years, and has been recognized by Forbes, Fortune Small Business, and the Society of Human Resource Management as an innovative, high-growth, socially responsible companyFact|date=July 2007.

In July 2006, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters launched an all-natural paper hot beverage cup. Produced in partnership with NatureWorks and International Paper, the cup is lined with a bio-plastic made from sugar – a 100% natural and renewable resource. In May 2007, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and International Paper were recognized with a 2007 Sustainability Award from the Specialty Coffee Association of AmericaFact|date=July 2007 for their partnership that resulted in the eco-tainer cup.

Customers

The majority of Green Mountain Coffee’s revenue is derived from over 8,000 wholesale customer accounts. The wholesale operation serves supermarket, specialty food store, convenience store, food service, hotel, restaurant, university, travel and office coffee service customers. Wholesale customers resell the coffee in whole bean or ground form for home consumption and/or brew and sell coffee beverages at their place of business. In October 2005, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters began selling Newman’s Own Organic Blend in more than 600 McDonald’s restaurants in the Northeast.

As of January 25, 2007, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. has extended its agreement with McDonald’s USA to source, roast and package Newman’s Own Organics Blend coffee exclusively for more than 600 McDonald’s restaurants in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Albany, NY. McDonald’s introduced Newman’s Own Organics Coffee roasted by Green Mountain to its restaurants in New England and Albany, New York in October, 2005.

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters also operates a direct mail and e-commerce business. Its coffee, Keurig brewers and other items can be purchased through its catalog or on the web at www.GreenMountainCoffee.com.

References

ee also

*Keurig
*Celestial Seasonings
*Transfair USA

External links

* [http://www.greenmountaincoffee.com/ Company Website]
* [http://www.elephantjournal.com/2008/06/green-mountain-coffee/ Video interview with Rick Peyser, director of "coffee community outreach"]
* [http://www.keurig.com/ Keurig]
* [http://www.Newmansownorganics.com/ Newman's Own Organic]
* [http://www.celestialseasonings.com/ Celestial Seasonings]
* [http://transfairusa.org/ Transfair USA]