Green Mountain Renamed to Hint at Keurig Link - Analyst Blog

Leading specialty coffee brewer and Keurig owner Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. GMCR will now be known as Keurig Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. to highlight both its main brands – Green Mountain coffee and Keurig brewers.

Management commented that the new name reflects the true nature of the company and has helped to bring the two major brands under one corporate identity. Shareholders approved the new name last week at an annual meeting. However, Keurig Green Mountain will retain its ticker symbol “GMCR” on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

Green Mountain offers coffee, tea as well as other beverages like hot apple cider, cocoa and other dairy-based drinks.

Keurigis a pioneer and leading manufacturer of gourmet single-cup brewing systems. It sells beverages produced through ‘At Home' and ‘Away From Home' channels.

Green Mountain acquired Keurig Inc. in 2006.Keurig sold the brewers at a reasonable rate while the K-Cups — compatible only with Keurig machines — were profitable. Post the merger, Green Mountain's sales rose 65% and it secured a strong position in the single brewing category.

Green Mountain has since then put a lot of focus on improving its Keurig business unit. More than 80% of the company revenues now comes from the sale of Keurig brewers and K-cup accessories.

Green Mountain Coffee aims to popularize the single-cup brewing system in America and has signed several strategic distribution agreements to rope in popular brands like Dunkin' Brands Group Inc. DNKN and Starbucks Corp. SBUX into its portion pack systems.

To maintain its dominance in the single-serve brewing category, Green Mountain also plans to launch Keurig 2.0 brewing machine with an interactive readability technology that will work only with licensed pods. 

Moreover, Green Mountain is stepping into the world of cold beverage and soda with the launch of ‘The Keurig Cold Machine'. The new machine will make sodas, sports drinks and other beverages at the touch of a button. Like its coffee machines, the cold machine would use pods to make a variety of drinks.

Recently, the coffee major inked a 10-year partnership deal with the beverage giant The Coca Cola Co. KO, whereby Green Mountain will exclusively make Coca-Cola branded pods for use on its Keurig Cold at-home beverage system. Coca-Cola will also work with Green Mountain on the development and launch of this latest version of Keurig single-cup brewer.

We feel the new name which emphasizes the Keurig connection will serve multiple purposes for Green Mountain which currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). First, it shows its determination to maintain its dominance in the single-serve brewing system market. Second, the new name will help the company to woo other powerful brands into signing distribution agreements for serving their beverage brands in Green Mountain's K-cups.