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Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Case Study

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Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Case Study
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Keurig Coffee
Jasmine Rupley
DeVry University
Bus412 Business Policy
Instructor David Mozinski
February 17, 2013

COMPANY NAME/WEBSITE/INDUSTRY
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Keurig Coffee/ http://www.greenmountaincoffee.com/www.keurig.com
/Specialty Coffee-Coffee Makers
BACKGROUND/HISTORY
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. is a one of the industry leaders in specialty coffee and coffee makers, is highly recognized for its award winning coffee, innovative brewing technologies, and an environmentally responsible business strategy. The company was founded in 1981 by Bob Stiller in Waitsfield, Vermont as a small café and went public in 1993. The 2000’s brought increased competition in the
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They do this by combining their strategic relationships, prior acquisitions and internal beverage efforts. They also produce and sell more than 27 brands and 200 varieties of coffee, cocoas, teas, and other beverages in K-cup packs as well as other traditional packaging (gmcr.com).
The main focus remains on their purpose of creating an “ultimate coffee experience in every life it touches from tree to cup- transforming the way the world views business” (gmcr.com). GMCR has been recognized by Forbes, Fortune, and CR Magazine as an innovative, high-growth, socially and environmentally responsible company. They allocate at least five percent of their pre-tax profits to projects that are socially and environmentally driven.
THE ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FACING THIS
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Their numerous channels of distribution, strong resources and competencies, and consumers favoring the supermarket to purchase whole bean specialty coffee, GMCR should be able to perfectly meet the driving forces of the industry. Although they are positioned for competitive consistency and have qualities that set them apart from their competitors, they have very few sources of sustainable competitive advantage and still need to go the extra mile to match the level of Starbucks.
Being an independent roaster, I believe they have what it takes to accomplish this as they have the time and energy to focus all of their attention on increasing market share and expanding into new geographic markets. Expanding to other regions other brands specific are already dominating in will definitely present challenges in creating a loyal customer base. Regardless, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has incredible strength and a solid platform to grow its business in the coming years (Weinstein, 2012). Its overall technologies and differentiators should set them apart from

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