Eight O’Clock Coffee Company Goes One Cup At A Time with Keurig Single Cup Brewing System
Waterbury, Vt. & Montvale, Nj., May, 2, 2012 – Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR) (NASDAQ: GMCR), a leader in specialty coffee and single serve brewing systems, and Eight O’Clock Coffee Company (a member of the Tata Global Beverages family of brands), America’s #1 Whole Bean Coffee brand in grocery (Nielsen, 52 Wks Ended March 31, 2012), announce the companies have reached a multiyear agreement to make Eight O’Clock® coffee, Tetley® tea, and Good Earth® tea available in K-Cup® and Vue™ packs for Keurig® Single Cup Brewing systems. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Eight O’Clock Coffee Company and GMCR plan to make a select offering of Eight O’Clock® coffee K-Cup® packs available throughin-home and away-from home channels,as well as on GMCR’s consumer direct websites, www.Keurig.com and www.GreenMountainCoffee.com,throughout the U.S.and Canada beginning in fall 2012.In the U.S, Tetley® teas, and in the U.S. and Canada, Good Earth® teas intend to join the K-Cup®pack collection in 2013.
"For generations, millions of coffee lovers have enjoyed brewing the fresh taste of high-quality Eight O’Clock® coffee. Now they will have a whole new, convenient way to make America's original gourmet coffeewith Keurig®, America’s favorite single cup brewing system," says David Allen, Sr. VP, Sales &Marketing at Tata Global Beverages’ US Region. "We look forward to working with GMCR tomake the top-selling whole bean coffee brand into a successful single cupcoffee."
The choice of coffee-loving Americans since 1859, Eight O’Clock® coffee is best known for its #1-selling whole bean coffees in grocery (Nielsen,52 Wks Ended March 31, 2012), offering a full line of gourmet coffee varieties in retailers throughout the country. Over 150 years later, Eight O’Clock® is as fresh as ever, entering the fast-growing, high-quality, and ultra-convenient world of single serve coffee with Eight O’Clock® coffee K-Cup® packs.
“This new relationship will provide Keurig®brewer owners with additional choice by having Eight O’Clock® coffee, Tetley® tea, and Good Earth® tea readily available for their brewers,” says Lawrence J. Blanford, GMCR President and CEO. “With this agreement, we are excited to once again deliver upon our promise of supplying unsurpassed quality, variety, and convenience in the Keurig® system.”
GMCR’s Keurig® Single Cup Brewers for in-home and office use utilize patented, innovative brewing and single-cup technology to deliver a fresh-brewed, perfect cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa every time at just the touch of a button. According to the NPD Group®, Keurig® Single Cup Brewers were the top four bestselling coffee makers during GMCR’sfiscal second quarter 2012 by dollar sales.
About Eight O’Clock Coffee
Eight O’Clock Coffee has been delighting coffee lovers for over 150 years and was named one of ‘America’s Greatest Brands’ in 2010. Best known for their #1-selling whole bean coffee in grocery and top-rated 100% Colombian coffee, Eight O’Clock offers a full line of gourmet coffee varieties in ground and whole bean forms. Eight O’Clock Coffee is headquartered in Montvale, NJ, is roasted and packaged in Landover, Maryland and available at most U.S. retailers where groceries are sold. Eight O’Clock is part of the Tata Global Beverages family of brands. For more information about Eight O’Clock Coffee, visit www.EightOClock.com.
About Tetley Tea
Tetley has been known as an industry leader in creating a variety of delicious teas since it began producing tea over 170 years ago. Tetley is part of the Tata Global Beverages family of brands and has a long-standing relationship with the Ethical Tea Partnership, an organization that monitors living and working conditions on tea estates. All Tetley branded tea, including flavored and decaffeinated varieties, will also be part of the Rainforest Alliance certification program, which is scheduled for completion by 2016. To learn more about Tetley Tea, visit www.TetleyUSA.com.
About Good Earth Tea
One of the first American herbal companies and a leader in specialty tea, Good Earth Tea brings authentic, full flavored teas from around the world to the U.S. via a wide variety of unique blends. Good Earth Tea offers a tea adventure like no other, combining rich flavors from around the world into aromatic blends such as Sweet & Spicy, Green Tea Lemongrass, and Superfruit White Tea with Mangosteen and Mango. Good Earth Tea is part of the Tata Global Beverages family of brands. For more information, visit www.GoodEarthTea.com.
About Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.
As a leader in specialty coffee and coffee makers, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR) (NASDAQ: GMCR), is recognized for its award-winning coffees, innovative Keurig® SingleCup brewing technology, and socially responsible business practices. GMCR supports local and global communities by offsetting 100% of its direct greenhouse gas emissions, investing in sustainably-grown coffee, and donating at least five percent of its pre-tax profits to social and environmental projects.
GMCR routinely posts information that may be of importance to investors in the Investor Relations section of its website, including news releases and its complete financial statements, as filed with the SEC. The Company encourages investors to consult this section of its website regularly for important information and news. Additionally, by subscribing to the Company’s automatic email news release delivery, individuals can receive news directly from GMCR as it is released.
GMCR Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained herein are not based on historical fact and are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the applicable securities laws and regulations. Generally, these statements can be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “feel,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “project,” “should,” “would,” and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Owing to the uncertainties inherent in forward-looking statements, actual results could differ materially from those stated here. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the impact on sales and profitability of consumer sentiment in this difficult economic environment, the Company’s success in efficiently expanding operations and capacity to meet growth, the Company’s success in efficiently and effectively integrating the Company’s acquisitions, the Company’s success in introducing and producing new product offerings, the ability of lenders to honor their commitments under the Company’s credit facility, competition and other business conditions in the coffee industry and food industry in general, fluctuations in availability and cost of high-quality green coffee, any other increases in costs including fuel, Keurig’s ability to continue to grow and build profits with its roaster partners in the At Home and Away from Home businesses, the Company experiencing product liability, product recall and higher than anticipated rates of warranty expense or sales returns associated with a product quality or safety issue, the impact of the loss of major customers for the Company or reduction in the volume of purchases by major customers, delays in the timing of adding new locations with existing customers, the Company’s level of success in continuing to attract new customers, sales mix variances, weather and special or unusual events, the impact of the inquiry initiated by the SEC and any related litigation or additional governmental investigative or enforcement proceedings, as well as other risks described more fully in the Company’s filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements reflect management’s analysis as of the date of this release. The Company does not undertake to revise these statements to reflect subsequent developments, other than in its regular, quarterly earnings releases.
CONTACTS:
For Media:
Sandy Yusen
Director of Public Relations
GMCR’s Specialty Coffee Business Unit
T: 866-968-2739
sandy.yusen@gmcr.com
Denise Blasevick
CEO – The S3 Agency
Public Relations Agency of Record
Tata Global Beverages US Region
T: 973-257-5533
dblasevick@theS3agency.com
For Investors:
Suzanne DuLong
VP of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.
T: 802-488-2600
suzanne.dulong@gmcr.com