CoffeeWhat is Green Mountain Coffee?
Pick the best coffee beans available all over the world, roast them to perfection, season with an advanced social conscience and a mission to help change the world, flavor with a very savvy sense of marketing and business and you might end up with one of the most successful specialty coffee businesses in the world. Ask the founders of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, the specialty coffee business that started as a small cafÓ© in Waterbury, Vermont back in 1981 and recorded nearly $350 million in sales in fiscal 2007.
The road to success for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has been a series of excellent business decisions coupled with right-place-right-time social policies. The Green Mountain label stands for excellent coffee combined with a mission to make a difference in the world. That mission imbues everything that the company does, from sourcing their coffees to point of sale and beyond - the company even uses recycled/recyclable packaging materials. Mission and social responsibility aside, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters owes its success to one factor - the amazing flavor.
The Green Mountain brand is built on high quality specialty coffees. The company began as a small cafÓ© in Vermont, with a commitment to serving specialty coffees roasted on premises. It wasn"t long before restaurants and shops in town started asking to serve Green Mountain"s coffee. When skiers who had tried Green Mountain"s specialty coffees while on vacation started asking if they could order coffee and have it sent to their homes, the company added its mail order business, and things just grew from there. These days, you can buy Green Mountain Roasters specialty coffees in your supermarket or order it online, sign up for CafÓ© Express to have Green Mountain coffee delivered to you automatically, drink Green Mountain coffee at many of your favorite restaurants, and buy Green Mountain coffee pre-packed into Keurig K-cups - Green Mountain sells the most varieties of coffees in K-cups of any of the Keurig partners.
The connection with Keurig is not the first strategic market placement decision that"s paid off for Green Mountain. Many avid fans got their first taste of Green Mountain"s specialty roasts at a most unexpected place - local convenience stores like 7-11 and Store 24, Gas-n-Go shops and other on-the-run coffee pickup spots where the last thing you expect is excellent coffee. As the various convenience stores have expanded their repertoire to include self-service coffee bars - and the technology for making good coffee has improved - Green Mountain has often been the coffee served.
Who Is Green Mountain Coffee Roasters?
Why not ask the company themselves? According to their press releases:
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters was ranked No. 1 on the list of "100 Best Corporate Citizens" in 2006 and 2007, and has been recognized repeatedly by Forbes, Fortune Small Business, and the Society of Human Resource Management as an innovative, high-growth, socially responsible company.
Is the coffee really as good as all that? With the fastest growing sales in the industry, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters stands by quality as a watchword. They send coffee sourcers throughout the world to taste and test the crops at coffee plantations in Africa, Asia and South America, bringing back the best that they find. Unlike the biggest chains that must be able to buy in large enough volume to supply hundreds or thousands of stores with any variety they choose, Green Mountain has no issues with selling limited edition coffees, often as single origin coffees.
Green Mountain Coffee Sourcing
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is also popular with "socially conscious" consumers who love the company"s environmentally and community-friendly policies. The company makes every attempt to source directly from growers around the world, and is one of the leading buyers in the Fair Trade coffee market. Green Mountain buyers work directly with coffee growers whenever possible. It is their commitment to high quality coffee and improving the world that has spurred the roasting company"s success.
Favorite Green Mountain Coffee Blends
If you"ve never tried Green Mountain Coffee, one of the best ways to get a real feel for the brand"s variety of flavors is to order one of the company"s variety samplers. If you"d rather pick and choose your own sampler pack, here"s a list of all-time favorite Green Mountain Coffee Blends.
Breakfast Blend - The #1 all time favorite and best seller, lighter roast, rich taste and medium acidity
Nantucket Blend - Exotic blend, full-bodied with a hint of floral and fruit, bright acidity and complex flavor
Dark Magic - An extra bold dark roast specially blended and roasted for espresso
Wild Mountain Blueberry - Seasonal flavored coffee that has become one of Green Mountain"s most popular coffees ever