History Keurig

1 history

1.1 inception , development
1.2 launch
1.3 acquisition green mountain coffee roasters
1.4 additional products , developments

1.4.1 keurig green mountain

history
inception , development

keurig founders john sylvan , peter dragone had been college roommates @ colby college in maine in late 1970s. in 1990s sylvan, tinkerer, had quit tech job in massachusetts, , wanted solve commonplace problem of office coffee – full pot of brewed coffee sits , grows bitter, dense, , stale – creating single-serving pod of coffee grounds , machine brew it. living in greater boston, went through extensive trial , error trying create pod , brewing machine. 1992, create business plan, brought in dragone, working director of finance chiquita, partner. founded company in 1992, calling keurig; sylvan later said name came having looked word excellence in dutch .

by 1993 sylvan , dragone still making pods hand, , brought in manufacturing consultant dick sweeney serve co-founder , automate manufacturing process. prototype brewing machines work in progress , unreliable, , company needed funds development. year, approached green mountain coffee roasters, , specialty coffee company first invested in keurig @ time. keurig needed sizeable venture capital; , after pitching numerous potential investors 3 partners obtained $50,000 minneapolis-based investor food fund in 1994, , later cambridge-based fund mdt advisers contributed $1,000,000. in 1995 larry kernan, principal @ mdt advisers, became chairman of keurig, position retained through 2002. sylvan did not work new investors, , in 1997 forced out, selling stake in company $50,000. dragone left few months later decided retain stake. sweeney stayed on company’s vice president of engineering.

launch

in 1997, green mountain coffee roasters became first roaster offer coffee in keurig k-cup pod newly market-ready keurig single-cup brewing system, , in 1998 keurig delivered first brewing system, b2000, designed offices. distribution began in new york , new england. target market @ time still office use, , keurig hoped capture of starbucks market. satisfy brand loyalty , individual tastes, keurig found , enlisted variety of regionally known coffee brands catered various flavor preferences. first of these green mountain coffee roasters, , additional licensees k-cup line included tully s coffee, timothy s world coffee, diedrich coffee, , van houtte, although green mountain dominant brand. keurig partnered variety of established national u.s. coffee brands k-cup varieties, , in 2000 company branched out beverage offerings in k-cup pods include hot chocolate , variety of teas. brewing machines large, , hooked office s water supply; keurig sold them local coffee distributors, installed them in offices little or no money, relying on k-cups profits.

in 2002, keurig sold 10,000 commercial brewers. consumer demand home-use brewer version increased, manufacturing model small enough fit on kitchen counter, , making them inexpensively enough affordable consumers, took time. office models profitable because profits came high-margin k-cups, , 1 office might go through hundreds of day.

by 2004, keurig had prototype ready home use, did large corporate competitors salton, sara lee, , procter & gamble, introduced own single-serve brewers , pods. keurig capitalized on increased awareness of concept, , sent representatives stores live demonstrations of b100 home brewer , give out free samples. keurig , k-cups became dominant brand of home brewers , single-serve pods.

acquisition green mountain coffee roasters

in 2006, publicly traded vermont-based specialty-coffee company green mountain coffee roasters (gmcr) – had successively invested in , acquired increasing percentage ownership of keurig in 1993, 1996, , 2003, time had 43% ownership – completed full acquisition of keurig. green mountain acquired 4 additional keurig licensees, tully s coffee, timothy s world coffee, diedrich coffee, , van houtte, in 2009 , 2010.

the joining of keurig , green mountain combined highly technological brewing-machine manufacturer , nationwide high-end coffee provider 1 company, , created effective razor/razorblade model allowed explosive growth , high profits. 2008, k-cup pods became available sale in supermarkets across u.s. coffee pod machine sales overall multiplied more six-fold on 6 years 2008 2014. in 2010 keurig , k-cup sales topped $1.2 billion. high-margin profits k-cup pods bulk of company s income; fiscal year 2014, keurig generated $822.3 million in sales brewers , accessories, while pods had $3.6 billion in sales.

in february 2011 green mountain announced agreement dunkin donuts make dunkin’ donuts coffee available in single-serve k-cup pods use keurig single-cup brewers. in addition, participating dunkin’ donuts restaurants on occasion offer keurig single-cup brewers sale. in march 2011, green mountain coffee , starbucks announced similar deal whereby starbucks sell coffee , tea in keurig single-serve pods, , in return sell keurig machines in stores part of deal.

additional products , developments

the company introduced keurig vue brewer, paired new vue pods, in february 2012, 7 months before key patent on k-cup expired in september 2012. vue system announced having customizable features consumers had control on strength, size, , temperature of beverages, , vue pod made of recyclable #5 plastic. vue brewer discontinued in 2014, although keurig still sells vue pods.

in november 2012, gmcr released espresso, cappuccino, , latte brewer, rivo, co-developed italian coffee company lavazza. in fall of 2013, company released full-pot brewer, keurig bolt, use in offices; discontinued in december 2016.

in november 2013 keurig opened retail store inside burlington mall in burlington, massachusetts. store features full line of keurig machines , accessories, , 200 varieties of k-cups creating individualized 3-, 6-, or 12-pod boxes.

in february 2014, coca-cola company purchased 10% stake in green mountain coffee roasters, valued @ $1.25 billion, option increase stake 16%, exercised in may 2014. partnership part of coca-cola s support of cold beverage system developed keurig allow customers make coca-cola , other brand beverages @ home. in january 2015, company made similar deal dr pepper snapple group, without stockholder stake. cold beverage system, keurig kold, launched in september 2015.

keurig green mountain

in march 2014, shareholders of keurig s parent company, green mountain coffee roasters, voted change name keurig green mountain reflect business of selling keurig coffee makers. keurig green mountain s stock-market symbol remained gmcr .

in fall of 2014, keurig green mountain introduced keurig 2.0 brewer, technology prevent old or unlicensed pods being used in brewer. digital lock-out sparked hacking attempts , anti-trust lawsuits. keurig 2.0 k-cup pods come in 400 varieties 60 brands, , of 2015 2.0 k-cup, k-carafe, , k-mug pods encompass 500 varieties 75 brands. 2.0 brewer has capacity brew full carafes in 3 settings 2 5 cups, via use of new k-carafe pod.

in march 2015, keurig launched k-mug pod, recyclable pod brews large travel mug–sized portions. k-mug pods, use in keurig 2.0 brewing system, brew 12-, 14-, , 16-ounce cups, , plastic recyclable #5 polypropylene plastic.

in mid 2015 keurig debuted k200, smaller keurig 2.0 model can brew single cups or four-cup carafes , comes in variety of colors. general electric announced new café french door refrigerator, due out in late 2015, have keurig coffee machine built door.

in september 2015, keurig launched line of campbell s soup available in k-cups. campbell s fresh-brewed soup kits come packet of noodles , k-cup pod of soup. product available in 2 varieties: homestyle chicken broth & noodle, , southwest style chicken broth & noodle.

also in september 2015, keurig launched keurig kold, brewer creates variety of cold beverages including soft drinks, functional beverages, , sparkling waters. machine brews beverages coca-cola company (e.g. coca-cola, diet coke, coke zero, sprite, fanta) , dr pepper snapple group (e.g. dr pepper, canada dry) , keurig s own line of flavored sparkling , non-sparkling waters , teas, sports drinks, , soda-fountain drinks.

in december 2015 announced keurig green mountain sold investor group led private-equity firm jab holding company $14 billion. acquisition completed in march 2016.