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Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1981–2014) and Keurig Green Mountain (2014–2018), is a publicly traded American
beverage A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoo ...
and
coffeemaker A coffeemaker, coffee maker or coffee machine is a cooking appliance used to brew coffee. While there are many different types of coffeemakers the two most common brewing principles use gravity or pressure to move hot water through coffee gr ...
conglomerate with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts. Formed in July 2018 with the merger of Keurig Green Mountain and
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Dr Pepper Snapple Group (also called Dr. Pepper/7up Inc.) was an American multinational soft drink company based in Plano, Texas, and as of July 2018 it is a business unit of the publicly traded conglomerate Keurig Dr Pepper. Formerly Cadbury S ...
(formerly Dr. Pepper/7up Inc.), Keurig Dr Pepper offers over 125 hot and cold beverages. The company's Canadian business unit subsidiary operates as Keurig Dr Pepper Canada (formerly Canada Dry Motts). The company's east-coast division manufactures
Keurig Keurig is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use. The machines are manufactured by the American company Keurig Dr Pepper. The main Keurig products are: K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers; other beverage pods; and ...
brewing systems; sources, produces, and sells
coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...
, hot cocoa,
tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...
s, and other beverages under various brands for its Keurig machines; and sells coffee beans and ground coffee in bags and fractional packs. As of 2018, the newly merged conglomerate also sells sodas, juices, and other soft drinks via its Dr Pepper Snapple division based in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) was established in 1981. After regional and national expansion in the late 1980s, and an IPO in 1993, the company completed its acquisition of the brewing-machine manufacturer Keurig, Inc. in 2006, enabling rapid growth through the high-margin sales of its many varieties of single-serve
K-Cup Keurig is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use. The machines are manufactured by the American company Keurig Dr Pepper. The main Keurig products are: K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers; other beverage pods; an ...
pods. In March 2014, GMCR changed its name to Keurig Green Mountain. A publicly traded company from 1993 through 2015, Keurig Green Mountain was acquired by a group of investors led by
JAB Holding Company JAB Holding Company ("JAB" or Joh. A. Benckiser) is a German conglomerate, headquartered in Luxembourg, that includes investments in companies operating in the areas of consumer goods, forestry, coffee, luxury fashion, animal health, and fast foo ...
in March 2016 for $13.9 billion in cash.Egan, Matt
"Keurig Green Mountain bought for $13.9 billion by firm that owns Peet's Coffee"
''
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''. December 7, 2015.
"JAB completes acquisition of Keurig Green Mountain"
''
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''. March 3, 2016.
"JAB Holding Company-Led Investor Group Completes Acquisition of Keurig Green Mountain, Inc."
''
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''. March 3, 2016.
Keurig Green Mountain became a
privately held company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...
for two years, and was an independent entity run by its pre-existing management team and a new CEO. On July 9, 2018, Keurig Green Mountain acquired the
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Dr Pepper Snapple Group (also called Dr. Pepper/7up Inc.) was an American multinational soft drink company based in Plano, Texas, and as of July 2018 it is a business unit of the publicly traded conglomerate Keurig Dr Pepper. Formerly Cadbury S ...
in an $18.7-billion deal. The combined company was renamed ''Keurig Dr Pepper'', and traded publicly again on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
under the ticker "KDP" until 2020 when it switched to Nasdaq while retaining the same ticker. Shareholders of Dr Pepper Snapple Group own 13% of the combined company, with Keurig shareholder
Mondelez International Mondelez International, Inc. ( ), often styled Mondelēz, is an American multinational confectionery, food, holding and beverage and snack food company based in Chicago. Mondelez has an annual revenue of about $26 billion and operates in ...
owning 13% to 14% of that fraction. JAB Holdings owns the remaining 73-74%. On February 21, 2019, the company announced that they are building a second headquarters in
Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in Collin and Denton counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Its population was 200,509 at the 2 ...
.


History


Beginnings

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) began when entrepreneur
Bob Stiller Robert P. Stiller is an American billionaire who co-founded E-Z Wider in 1972 and Keurig Green Mountain coffee company in 1981. He graduated from New York Military Academy and Parsons College Parsons College was a private liberal arts college loc ...
was near a
Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
ski resort, where he discovered a cup of coffee which he enjoyed so much that he sought after its source. In 1981, he and a partner bought a two-thirds stake in the small specialty coffee roasting company in
Waitsfield, Vermont Waitsfield is a town in Washington County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,844 as of the 2020 census. It was created by a Vermont charter on February 25, 1782, and was granted to militia Generals Benjamin Wait, Roger Enos and oth ...
, that produced the roasted beans.Kroll, Luisa
"Entrepreneur Of The Year: Java Man"
''
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''. October 29, 2001.
The store and café sold beans, grounds, and coffee to the public and a few restaurants.Ingram, Frederick C
"Green Mountain Coffee, Inc."
In: Grant, Tina (ed). ''International Directory of Company Histories'', Vol. 31. St. James Press, 2000. pp. 227–230.
Stiller dedicated himself to coffee-roasting, using exclusively arabica coffee beans."Chapter 4: Building a Better Cup of Coffee"
In: Carpenter, Murray. ''Caffeinated: How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts, and Hooks Us''. Penguin, 2014. pp. 47–56.
By 1982, the company had around 30 employees, and moved its production facilities to
Waterbury, Vermont Waterbury is a town in Washington County in central Vermont, United States. Although the town is still home to the Waterbury Village Historic District, the village sharing the name of the town officially dissolved as a municipality in 2018. As ...
.Green Mountain Coffee – History
. ''BrewaBetterDay.com''. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
Stiller bought out his two partners for $100,000 and became
sole proprietor A sole proprietorship, also known as a sole tradership, individual entrepreneurship or proprietorship, is a type of enterprise owned and run by one person and in which there is no legal distinction between the owner and the business entity. A sole ...
of the company within two years of his original purchase, but it took four years to turn a profit. To grow the business, Stiller sold the coffee to high-end restaurants and gas stations alike, and gave out free samples as he could not afford advertising. In 1986, he launched a mail-order business which he advertised in gourmet magazines, and acquired his first supermarket-chain customer, Kings. Stiller adopted technology to track customers' orders; to regulate roasting-heat levels appropriate to each bag; and to track distribution, manufacturing, sales, and personnel (adopting
PeopleSoft PeopleSoft, Inc. is a company that provides human resource management systems (HRMS), Financial Management Solutions (FMS), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), and enterprise performance management (EPM) software ...
in 1997). By 1983, employees composted
used coffee grounds Used coffee grounds is the result of brewing coffee, and are the final product after preparation of coffee. Despite having several highly-desirable chemical components, used coffee grounds are generally regarded as waste, and they are usually t ...
at its retail stores, and by 1986, Green Mountain introduced its first
organic coffee Organic coffee is coffee produced without the aid of artificial chemical substances, such as certain additives or some pesticides and herbicides. Meaning of organic Many factors are taken into consideration when coffee is considered for organic ...
in a retail market test. The company became one of the largest suppliers of double-certified fair-trade and organic coffee in the world. As American tastes in coffee changed, sales of Green Mountain roasted coffee beans grew. In 1991, GMCR had seven retail outlets, 1,000 wholesale clients, $11 million in sales, and $200,000 in profits. By 1993, the company had 2,400 wholesale accounts and sales of about $10 million, and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. started trading publicly, under the ticker "GMCR". The company expanded its retail locations, food-service distribution, mail-order business, and wholesale business. In 1994, Green Mountain began exporting to Canada and Taiwan. In the late 1990s, it broadened its national supermarket chain distribution, gas-station and convenience-store distribution throughout the northeast, and it sold its product in airlines and
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
, specialty coffee stores, and venues such as LL Bean, Weight Watchers International, and Staples.


Keurig and launch of K-Cups

In 1993, three engineering entrepreneurs from a Massachusetts start-up called
Keurig Keurig is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use. The machines are manufactured by the American company Keurig Dr Pepper. The main Keurig products are: K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers; other beverage pods; and ...
approached GMCR about developing a single-cup coffee brewing system, marking GMCR's first investment in Keurig.Luna, Taryn
"Green Mountain booming with Coca-Cola partnership for new cold drink system"
''
Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''. February 7, 2014.
In 1996, GMCR invested further in Keurig, buying a 35% interest in the company. The following year, GMCR became the first roaster to offer coffee in a
K-Cup Keurig is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use. The machines are manufactured by the American company Keurig Dr Pepper. The main Keurig products are: K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers; other beverage pods; an ...
pod for the Keurig Single-Cup Brewing System; in 1998 Keurig delivered its first brewing system, designed for office use.Keurig Canada – Our History
. ''Corp.Keurig.ca''. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
The launch of the first K-Cups with Green Mountain Coffee helped GMCR begin to further compete with the ubiquitous presence of Starbucks, by allowing people to brew their own single servings of premium coffee. Also in 1997, a deal with Poland Spring opened the office-worker market by distributing Green Mountain Coffee to thousands of offices in the Northeast. In 1998, GMCR closed its 12 retail shops in favor of the burgeoning direct-mail and online market, its growing distributions to business offices and other national venues, and its wholesale market. That year, the company signed an exclusive deal with American Skiing Company, offered its first corporate gifts catalogue, sold its certified organic coffee in ExxonMobil's national and international On the Run convenience stores, and expanded its supermarket distribution to 500 stores. In 1999, it expanded its export market, including to
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...
. In 2000, Green Mountain reached an agreement to promote and sell fair trade coffee, committing to making at least 3% of its sales fair trade—certified by TransFair USA. In 2001, the company acquired Frontier Organic Coffee, and in 2002, it signed an agreement to sell fair trade coffee under the Newman's Own Organics label. In late 2005, GMCR reached a deal to sell its Newman's Own Organics Blend coffee in more than 600 McDonald's restaurants in
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
and
Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...
.


Acquisition of Keurig, Inc.

In 2006, Green Mountain—which had successively invested in and acquired increasing percentage ownership of Keurig, Inc. in 1993, 1996, and 2003, by which time it had a 43% ownership—completed its full acquisition of the single-cup brewing systems manufacturer. The successive acquisition allowed Green Mountain to adopt a multi-brand portfolio, and multichannel distribution of brands in a variety of settings. It also fueled enormous revenue growth, and allowed GMCR to transition fully from deriving 95% of its revenue from its low-margin wholesale coffee business in the late 1990s (approximately $65 million), to deriving 95% of its revenue from high-margin sales of K-Cups as of 2014 (more than $4.3 billion). Green Mountain also acquired the four additional Keurig licensees in 2009 and 2010: # In March 2009, it purchased Seattle-based Tully's Coffee brand and its wholesale coffee business for $40.3 million."Premier Employers of Food Processing: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters"
. The Hitachi Foundation, and Northwest Food Processors Education & Research Institute. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
# In November 2009, it acquired the wholesale division of
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
coffee provider
Timothy's World Coffee Timothy's World Coffee (a.k.a. Timothy's) is a large Canadian coffee roasting company and chain of coffeeshops. Origin and background Timothy's was founded in 1975 as a retailer of premium roasted coffee beans by Timothy Snelgrove and his wife T ...
for $157 million. # In December 2009, it purchased the California-based
Diedrich Coffee Diedrich Coffee is a coffee company based in Irvine, CA. Its first coffee house in Orange County, California, was opened in 1972. History The history of the company started with Charlotte Diedrich inheriting a coffee plantation in Costa Rica in ...
for $290 million. # In 2010, Green Mountain Coffee bought the Canadian distributor, Quebec-based coffee services company Van Houtte, for $915 million. In 2010, GMCR Canada was founded, and officially became the ''Canadian Business Unit of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.'' the following year. (It has been known as ''Keurig Canada Inc.'' since March 2014, and now ''Keurig Dr Pepper Canada''.) On September 28, 2010, GMCR's stock rose to what was then an all-time high; however, the company disclosed after the markets closed that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had requested documents and data related to an inquiry into how it accounted for revenue.
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"SEC probes Green Mountain's revenue accounting"
''
The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is a daily newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1891 and has been owned by the Blethen family since 1896. ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Washington ...
''. September 28, 2010.
The company announced that U.S. regulators had inquired into some of Green Mountain's accounting practices, including
revenue recognition The revenue recognition principle is a cornerstone of accrual accounting together with the matching principle. They both determine the accounting period in which revenues and expenses are recognized. According to the principle, revenues are reco ...
, and the large inventory with a single vendor, M. Block and Sons, Inc. Most analysts felt that the company practices were sound. The SEC ended the probe in October 2014, and brought no enforcement action against Green Mountain or its employees. In February 2011, Green Mountain announced an agreement with Dunkin' Donuts to make Dunkin’ Donuts coffee available in single-serve K-Cup pods for use with Keurig Single-Cup Brewers. In addition, participating Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants on occasion offer Keurig Single-Cup Brewers for sale. In March 2011, Green Mountain Coffee and Starbucks announced a similar deal whereby the latter would sell its coffee and tea in Keurig single-serve pods, and would in return sell Keurig machines in their stores as part of the deal.


New brewers, and company name change

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters introduced the Keurig Vue brewer, paired with new Vue packs, in February 2012,"Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Unveils New Keurig Brewing Platform"
''Investor.KeurigGreenMountain.com'' (press release). February 15, 2012.
seven months before patents on the K-Cup expired in September 2012. The Vue system was announced as having customizable features so consumers had control over the strength, size, and temperature of their beverages, and the Vue pack is made of
recyclable Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
#5 plastic. In November 2012, GMCR released its espresso, cappuccino, and latte brewer, the Rivo, co-developed with the Italian coffee company Lavazza. In the fall of 2013, the company released a full-pot brewer, the Keurig Bolt, for use mainly in offices. In February 2014, The Coca-Cola Company purchased a 10% stake in the company, valued at $1.25 billion, with an option to increase their stake to 16%, which was exercised in May 2014. The partnership was part of Coca-Cola's support of a cold beverage system to be developed by Keurig that allows customers to make Coca-Cola and other brand soft drinks at home. In January 2015, the company made a similar deal with
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Dr Pepper Snapple Group (also called Dr. Pepper/7up Inc.) was an American multinational soft drink company based in Plano, Texas, and as of July 2018 it is a business unit of the publicly traded conglomerate Keurig Dr Pepper. Formerly Cadbury S ...
, but without a stockholder stake. In early March 2014, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters shareholders voted to change its name to Keurig Green Mountain to reflect its business of selling Keurig coffee makers. Its stock-market symbol remained "GMCR". In the fall of 2014, Keurig Green Mountain introduced the Keurig 2.0 brewer, with technology to prevent old or unlicensed pods being used in the brewer. The digital lock-out sparked hacking attempts and antitrust lawsuits. The 2.0 brewer also has the capacity to brew full carafes in addition to single servings, via the use of the new K-Carafe portion pack. In March 2015, it launched the K-Mug pod, a recyclable pod which brews large travel mug–sized portions. In mid 2015 Keurig debuted the K200, a smaller Keurig 2.0 model that can brew single cups or four-cup carafes and comes in a variety of colors.
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...
announced that its new Café French Door refrigerator, due out in late 2015, would have a Keurig coffee machine built into the door. In September 2015, Keurig launched a line of Campbell's Soup available in K-Cups.Bowerman, Mary
"Keurig unveils Campbell's Soup K-Cups"
''
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''. September 10, 2015.
"Campbell's Fresh-Brewed Soup, The First-Ever Hot Soup Made Exclusively for the Keurig Hot Brewing System, Now Available on Keurig.com"
(press release). ''Investor.KeurigGreenMountain.com''. September 9, 2015.
The kits come with a packet of noodles and a K-Cup pod of soup, and the varieties include Chicken Noodle and Southwest Style Chicken Noodle. Also in September 2015, Keurig launched Keurig Kold, a brewer which created a variety of cold beverages including soft drinks, functional beverages, and sparkling waters. The machine brewed beverages from The Coca-Cola Company and the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, in addition to Keurig's own line of flavored sparkling and non-sparkling waters and teas, sports drinks, and soda-fountain drinks."Keurig Green Mountain Announces the Launch of Keurig KOLD"
(press release). ''Investor.KeurigGreenMountain.com''. September 29, 2015.
The company's primary competitor in this market area was SodaStream. In June 2016 Keurig announced it was discontinuing the machine and offered refunds to purchasers.


Acquisition by JAB and other investors

On December 7, 2015, an investor group led by private-equity firm
JAB Holding Company JAB Holding Company ("JAB" or Joh. A. Benckiser) is a German conglomerate, headquartered in Luxembourg, that includes investments in companies operating in the areas of consumer goods, forestry, coffee, luxury fashion, animal health, and fast foo ...
—an investment firm dealing in high-end consumer goods, whose holdings include Peet's Coffee & Tea—announced its intent to acquire Keurig Green Mountain for $13.9 billion. The minority investors in the KGM purchase included shareholders in the global coffee and tea company
Jacobs Douwe Egberts JDE Peet's is a Dutch company that owns beverage brands, mostly of coffee, tea and hot chocolate. It was formed in 2015 following the merger of the coffee division of Mondelez International with Douwe Egberts as Jacobs Douwe Egberts. The stock of ...
, which owns
Tassimo The Tassimo Hot Beverage System is a consumer single-serve coffee system that prepares one-cup servings of espresso, regular coffee, tea, hot chocolate and various other coffee drinks, notably those including milk such as latte or cappuccino. T ...
.Masunaga, Samantha
"Owner of Peet's to buy coffee pod pioneer Keurig for almost $14 billion"
''
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''. December 7, 2015.
The agreement was unanimously approved by Keurig Green Mountain's board of directors.Udland, Myles
"Keurig is getting bought for $92 a share, stock jumps 75%"
'' Business Insider''. December 7, 2015.
The selling price, at $92 per share, represented a 77.9% premium over the closing price of Keurig Green Mountain (stock ticker "GMCR") on December 5, 2015. The Coca-Cola Company, Keurig Green Mountain's largest shareholder at 17.4%, announced its support for the JAB takeover since the sale of its stock holding would provide Coca-Cola with a substantial financial benefit.Kaplan, Jennifer
Keurig to Go Private in $13.9 Billion Buyout Led by JAB"
'' Bloomberg Business''. December 7, 2015.
The acquisition closed in March 2016. Keurig Green Mountain became a privately held company, and remained an independent entity run by its existing management team, retaining its head office in Waterbury, Vermont. In a statement, JAB's chairman Bart Becht said that "Keurig Green Mountain will operate as an independent entity.... The company’s management team...will continue to run Keurig."


Acquisition of Dr Pepper Snapple Group

In July 2018, Keurig Green Mountain acquired
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Dr Pepper Snapple Group (also called Dr. Pepper/7up Inc.) was an American multinational soft drink company based in Plano, Texas, and as of July 2018 it is a business unit of the publicly traded conglomerate Keurig Dr Pepper. Formerly Cadbury S ...
in a deal worth $18.7 billion. Legally, Dr Pepper Snapple Group was the surviving company; it remained publicly traded and changed its name to Keurig Dr Pepper. This created the third largest beverage company in North America. On July 10, shares in Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP) began trading on the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
. Its stock switched to NASDAQ in 2020. Dr Pepper Snapple Group continues to operate as a business unit under the Keurig Dr Pepper parent company.


Corporate affairs


Sustainability

GMCR began to embrace an environmental ethos within two years of its founding, and environmentalism and sustainability were overarching policies for which Green Mountain became well known. Among other initiatives within Green Mountain's first decade, in 1983 employees began composting used coffee grounds at its retail stores; in 1986 the company introduced its first organic coffee in a retail market test; in 1989 it formed an Employee Environmental Committee, and began a recycling program; and in 1990 it introduced Rain Forest Nut coffee to sponsor rainforest preservation, donating 10% of the product's profits to Conservation International and the Rainforest Alliance, and it introduced the first earth-friendly, oxygen-whitened, dioxin-free coffee filters. In 1992 it formed a Stewardship Program to promote sustainability and sound environmental practices; in 1997 it pioneered the first biodegradable bag for bulk coffee purchases; and in 2006 it introduced the ecotainer, a to-go cup for hot beverages made entirely out of renewable materials.Mintzer, Rich
''Start Your Own Green Business''
Entrepreneur Press, 2009. p. 28.
In 2005, Green Mountain was the first coffee company to support the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
'
Global Reporting Initiative The Global Reporting Initiative (known as GRI) is an international independent standards organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as climate change, human righ ...
mission to develop globally accepted sustainability reporting guidelines."Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc."
In
''Sustainable Business Cases''
2012.
In 2008 GMCR's board of directors added a social and environmental responsibility committee. During that time period GMCR also established a vice president for environmental affairs reporting directly to the CEO. As of 2015, Keurig Green Mountain has a Chief Sustainability Officer. The company offsets 100% of its direct greenhouse gases, and prioritizes waste reduction and responsible energy use, and sustainability over the life-cycle of its products.Addressing Our Environmental Impact – Keurig® Brewing Systems
''KeurigGreenMountain.com''. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
Sustainability – Creating Sustainable Products
''KeurigGreenMountain.com''. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
In addition to other awards and recognition for sustainable practices,Keurig Green Mountain: Awards & Recognition 2013–2015
''KeurigGreenMountain.com''. Retrieved March 19, 2015.
GMCR was on ''Sustainable Business''s "World's Top 20 Sustainable Business Stocks" annually from 2002 to 2007, and as of 2015 it is on the EPA's National Top 100 of green power users in the U.S. In 2014, Keurig Green Mountain announced a multi-faceted effort to address the long-term challenges of the global
water crisis Water scarcity (closely related to water stress or water crisis) is the lack of fresh water resources to meet the standard water demand. There are two types of water scarcity: physical or economic water scarcity. Physical water scarcity is wher ...
, and instituted an initial commitment of $11 million to support nonprofits working to promote water security. Environmental advocates and journalists have criticized the company for the billions of non-recyclable and non-biodegradable K-Cups consumers purchase and dispose of every year, and for the dichotomy between the company's historic environmentally conscious image and the impact of K-Cups on the environment.Gunther, Mark
"Trouble brewing: has success spoiled Green Mountain?"
''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. May 28, 2014.
GMCR's vice president of sustainability stated in 2013 that "The system has a lot of pretty demanding technical requirements in terms of being able to withstand certain amount of temperature and to have a certain kind of rigidity, and provide the right kinds of moisture barriers and oxygen barriers and the like. So it isn't the simplest challenge." In 2015, the company's chief sustainability officer stated that every new K-Cup spin-off product introduced since 2006 – including the Vue, Bolt, and K-Carafe cups – is recyclable if disassembled into paper, plastic, and metal components. In its 2014 Sustainability Report, released in February 2015, Keurig Green Mountain re-affirmed that a priority for the company is ensuring that 100% of K-Cup pods are recyclable by 2020.


Corporate social responsibility

From its inception, and in tandem with its environmentally conscious outlook, Green Mountain has had a culture grounded in social responsibility, community mindedness, philanthropy, and respect for employees.Conroy, Michael E
''Branded!: How the 'Certification Revolution' is Transforming Global Corporations''
New Society Publishers, 2007. pp. 104–105.
Among other recognition and awards for its corporate social responsibility (CSR), GMCR was in the top ten of the "100 Best Corporate Citizens" each year from 2003 to 2007, and was ranked #1 in 2006 and 2007. GMCR was not under consideration for the ranking in 2008, because the focus switched to exclusively
large-cap Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by ...
companies. It re-entered the "100 Best Corporate Citizens" list in 2010 and 2013. In 2005, Green Mountain released its first Corporate Social Responsibility Report.Corporate Social Responsibility Report, Fiscal Year 2007
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. ''KeurigGreenMountain.com''. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
In 2008 GMCR's board of directors added a social and environmental responsibility committee overseeing the company's social responsibilities. It also established a vice president for corporate social responsibility who reports directly to the CEO. In addition to its environmental oversight, the company's Sustainability Committee focuses on areas including the financial and environmental viability, health, and resiliency of its coffee-growing and manufacturing supply chains; community outreach; and corporate and employee social responsibility and awareness. GMCR was a pioneer in the Fair Trade movement in 2000, guaranteeing farmers a steady minimum price far above market value."Green Mountain Coffee Roasters: Top Corporate Citizen"
In: ''Congressional Record, V. 152, Pt. 6, May 8, 2006 to May 17, 2006''.
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
, Government Printing Office, 2006. pp. 7610–7611.
Linton, April
''Fair Trade from the Ground up: New Markets for Social Justice''
University of Washington Press, 2012. p. 80.
Since 2010 Green Mountain has been the largest purchaser of Fair Trade coffee in the world. In addition, the company was from its beginnings known for its long-term relationships and fair dealings with coffee-growing suppliers, and for its large percentage of farmer-direct coffee purchases. Since the early 1990s, the company has annually sent groups of employees on trips to coffee farms in Latin America, to gain first-hand experience in the lives of coffee growers. GMCR has prioritized initiatives to alleviate poverty and hunger in coffee-growing communities. These include Coffee Kids, an international non-profit which improves the lives of children and families in remote coffee-growing villages;Dlabay, Les; Burrow, James; Kleindl, Brad
''Principles of Business''
Cengage Learning, 2011. p. 193.
and the FomCafe cooperative's quality-control training program, which helps farmers earn higher profits for coffee. In 2002 GMCR was the first corporate investor of the non-profit micro-loan organization Root Capital, and through it Green Mountain has provided millions of dollars in loans to cash-strapped coffee farmers. In 2002 Green Mountain also formed a joint alliance with the U.S. Agency for International Development, to improve the livelihoods of those in impoverished coffee-growing regions. Internally, GMCR has cultivated and maintained a flat corporate culture, where employee buy-in, enthusiasm and vision, collaboration, and input is important. The company offers employees continuous training and development opportunities; tuition for outside education; profit-sharing; financial education; and continuous career-advancement support. Employees are paid for up to 52 hours of volunteer work in their community per year.Woodward, Michael
''The You Plan''
Keynote Publishing, 2010. p. 90.
GMCR has been on ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' list of Best Small Companies five times, and has been recognized as a "Best Place to Work" in '' HR Magazine''.


Business segments and brands

Keurig Green Mountain operates in two business segments: domestic and Canada.Keurig Green Mountain Inc (GMCR.O)
– Profile at ''
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was esta ...
''.
The domestic segment produces and sells coffee, hot cocoa, teas and other beverages, to be prepared hot or cold, in Keurig pods; it also sells coffee in traditional packaging, including whole beans and ground coffee in bags, and ground coffee in fractional packs. It also sells patented Keurig single-cup brewing systems for use both at home and away from home. The Canadian business unit – Keurig Canada Inc. – sells Keurig brewers, and produces and sells coffees, teas, and other beverages in a variety of packaging formats, including Keurig pods, as well as coffee in traditional packaging such as bags, cans, and fractional packs. It sells under a variety of brands, including Van Houtte, Brulerie St. Denis, Brulerie Mont-Royal, and Orient Express, and its licensed Bigelow and Wolfgang Puck brands. Through its owned brands and through its partnerships and licensing, Keurig Green Mountain's K-Cup pods offer more than 400 varieties of coffee, tea, and other beverages from 60 brands, including the top ten best-selling coffee brands in the U.S.


Corporate governance

Founder Bob Stiller was president and CEO of the company from its inception in 1981 until 2007, when he stepped down but remained chairman until May 2012."Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Announces Appointment of Lawrence J. Blanford as President and CEO"
''
Business Wire Business Wire is an American company that disseminates full-text press releases from thousands of companies and organizations worldwide to news media, financial markets, disclosure systems, investors, information web sites, databases, bloggers, ...
''. May 3, 2007.
Lawrence J. Blanford became Green Mountain's president and CEO in 2007. Brian Kelley, previously chief product supply officer of
Coca-Cola Refreshments The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational beverage corporation founded in 1892, best known as the producer of Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company also manufactures, sells, and markets other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups ...
, became the company's president and CEO in December 2012. In March 2016, JAB Holding Company and other investors acquired Keurig Green Mountain. Robert Gamgort, previously CEO of Pinnacle Foods, took over as KGM's new CEO in May 2016.Beilfuss, Lisa
"Keurig Green Mountain Snags Pinnacle Food’s CEO"
''
Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''. March 23, 2016.
The pre-existing management team, with Gamgort as its new CEO, continued to run Keurig Green Mountain as an independent entity, following its acquisition by JAB Holding Company. Following the 2018 merger with Dr Pepper Snapple, Gamgort became CEO of Keurig Dr Pepper, and Larry Young, who had been president and CEO of Dr Pepper Snapple, retired from those positions and joined the new company's board of directors.


Brands

* 50/50 *
7 Up 7 Up (stylized as 7up outside North America) is an American brand of lemon-lime-flavored non-caffeinated soft drink. The brand and formula are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper although the beverage is internationally distributed by PepsiCo. 7 Up co ...
(U.S. only) *
A&W Root Beer A&W Root Beer is an American brand of root beer that was founded in 1919 by Roy W. Allen – A&W root beer's official history and primarily available in the United States and Canada. Allen partnered with Frank Wright in 1922, creating the A&W ...
(worldwide except Canada) ** A&W Cream Soda *
Bai Brands Bai Brands is a beverage company founded in 2009 in Princeton, New Jersey, by entrepreneur Ben Weiss. Weiss started Bai after he learned about the coffeefruit – the fruit that surrounds the outside of the coffee bean — and decided to use it ...
* Cactus Cooler * Canada Dry ** Sussex Golden * Core Brands (Water/Fitness Nutrition) * Crush * Dejà Blue *
Diedrich Coffee Diedrich Coffee is a coffee company based in Irvine, CA. Its first coffee house in Orange County, California, was opened in 1972. History The history of the company started with Charlotte Diedrich inheriting a coffee plantation in Costa Rica in ...
* Dr Pepper (U.S. only) *
Gloria Jean's Coffees Gloria Jean's Gourmet Coffee Pty Ltd is an American-Australian retail coffeehouse brand headquartered in Castle Hill, Sydney. The chain is owned by the multinational fast casual restaurant conglomerate Retail Food Group and has more than 1,400 ...
* Green Mountain Coffee *
Hawaiian Punch Hawaiian Punch is a brand of fruit punch currently manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally invented in 1934 by A.W. Leo, Tom Yeats, and Ralph Harrison as a topping for ice cream. It was started from an original syrup flavor called Leo's Hawa ...
(U.S. only) * Hires Root Beer * IBC Root Beer *
Keurig Keurig is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use. The machines are manufactured by the American company Keurig Dr Pepper. The main Keurig products are: K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers; other beverage pods; and ...
**
K-Cup Keurig is a beverage brewing system for home and commercial use. The machines are manufactured by the American company Keurig Dr Pepper. The main Keurig products are: K-Cup pods, which are single-serve coffee containers; other beverage pods; an ...
s * Mott's **
Clamato Clamato is a commercial drink made of reconstituted tomato juice concentrate and sugar, which is flavored with spices, dried clam broth and MSG. Made by Mott's, the name is a portmanteau of ''clam'' and ''tomato''. It is also referred to col ...
**
Mr & Mrs T Mr & Mrs T is an American brand of drink mixers owned by Keurig Dr Pepper. (KDP). History Mr & Mrs T Bloody Mary mix was first sold by Herb and June Taylor in 1960. They had been in the sauce business and developed their mix to create consistent ...
*
Peet's Coffee Peet's Coffee is a San Francisco Bay Area-based specialty coffee roaster and retailer owned by JAB Holding Company via JDE Peet's. Founded in 1966 by Alfred Peet in Berkeley, California, Peet's introduced the United States to its darker roasted ...
* Peñafiel * ReaLemon and ReaLime *
RC Cola RC Cola (short for Royal Crown Cola) is an American brand of cola invented by Claud A. Hatcher in 1905. Royal Crown Ginger Ale was the first product of the RC Cola line, and it referred to the original ingredient: ginger. More ingredients w ...
(U.S. only) ** Diet Rite **
Nehi Nehi (pronounced "knee high") is a flavored soft drink that originated in the United States. It was introduced in 1924 by Chero-Cola/Union Bottle Works and founded by Claud A. Hatcher, a Columbus, Georgia grocer who began bottling ginger ale a ...
* Rose's * Schweppes (North America) * Snapple * Squirt * Stewart's Fountain Classics * Straight Up Tea * Sun Drop * Sunkist *
Timothy's World Coffee Timothy's World Coffee (a.k.a. Timothy's) is a large Canadian coffee roasting company and chain of coffeeshops. Origin and background Timothy's was founded in 1975 as a retailer of premium roasted coffee beans by Timothy Snelgrove and his wife T ...
* Tully's Coffee * Van Houtte * Venom Energy *
Vernors Vernors is an American brand of ginger ale owned by Keurig Dr Pepper that was first served in 1866 by James Vernor, a Detroit pharmacist. History Vernors is the oldest surviving ginger ale, according to the company it was first served to ...
* Yoo-hoo


References


External links

* {{authority control Coffee brands Companies based in Burlington, Massachusetts Food and drink companies based in Massachusetts Food and drink companies established in 1981 1981 establishments in Vermont Drink companies of the United States 2016 mergers and acquisitions 2018 mergers and acquisitions Soft drinks manufacturers Multinational food companies