Formerly called
|
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1981–2014) |
---|---|
Privately held | |
Industry | Food and beverage Appliance manufacturing |
Founded | Waitsfield, Vermont, U.S. (1981 ) |
Founder | Bob Stiller |
Headquarters | Waterbury, Vermont, U.S. |
Key people
|
Robert Gamgort, CEO |
Products | Coffee makers and pods Beverages (coffee, tea, cocoa) |
Owner |
JAB Holding Company (2016–present) |
Website | www |
Keurig Green Mountain, formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, is a specialty coffee and coffeemaker company founded in 1981 and headquartered in the U.S. It sources, produces, and sells coffee, hot cocoa, teas, and other beverages under various brands in portion packs for its Keurig brewing systems; and sells coffee beans and ground coffee in bags and fractional packs. It sells many of its beverage varieties in K-Cup single-serve pods, and as of 2015 offers Vue, Rivo, Bolt, and K-Carafe pods as well.
Through its own and its partnership licensed brands, the company offers over 400 different varieties of coffee and other beverage selections. These include coffees that are certified organic, Fair Trade Certified, specialty blends, and flavored coffees and beverages.
Begun as a small specialty coffee roaster and store in Vermont in 1981, after regional and national expansion in the late 1980s and an IPO in 1993, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters 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 pods for home and office use. GMCR changed its name to Keurig Green Mountain in March 2014.
The company is headquartered in Waterbury, Vermont. Its Canadian business unit subsidiary operates as Keurig Canada Inc.
A publicly traded company from 1993 through 2015, in December 2015 the company announced that a group of investors led by JAB Holding Company would acquire Keurig Green Mountain for $13.9 billion in cash. The acquisition closed in March 2016. Keurig Green Mountain is now a privately held company, and is an independent entity run by its pre-existing management team and a new CEO.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters had its inception when entrepreneur Bob Stiller discovered a cup of coffee so good near a Vermont ski resort that he sought out the source of the coffee. In 1981 he and a partner bought a two-thirds stake in the small specialty coffee roasting company in Waitsfield, Vermont that produced the roasted beans. The store and cafe sold beans, grounds, and coffee to the public and a few restaurants. At a time when premium, specialty, or gourmet coffee was still rare, Stiller dedicated himself to coffee-roasting, using exclusively arabica coffee beans. By 1982 the company had around 30 employees, and moved its production facilities to Waterbury, Vermont.