Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. and Starbucks Corp. have finalized a deal that will increase Green Mountain's single-serve dominance.
The deal will put single-serve Starbucks packs for Green Mountain’s Keurig brewer in grocery stores, drug stores and retailers across the U.S. in the fall. Next year, Starbucks K-Cups and Keurig brewers will be sold in Starbucks stores across North America.
According to a story in the Boston Globe, Starbucks will generate 1 million brewer sales and 600 million Starbucks K-Cup sales throughout the first year of the partnership. Additionally, the partnership is estimated to increase the percentage of U.S. homes that have a Keurig from 6 percent to 30 percent within the next several years.
From The Boston Globe:
“That’s a really tremendous market opportunity for us,’’ said Michelle Stacy, president of the Keurig business unit for Green Mountain, which is based in Waterbury, Vt. “One of the things it offers the consumer is yet another fantastic brand among the array of brands that we have.’’
Teaming up with Starbucks removes a potential competitor for Green Mountain, which controls more than 70 percent of the burgeoning single-serve market. Until March 1, Starbucks had offered single-serve coffee for Kraft Food Inc.’s Tassimo brewer, which only has a 3 percent market share.
