Keurig Green Mountain Going Global?

Companies and Brands

Published: March 14, 2014 2:35 pm

Last Updated: April 28, 2020 12:28 am

Keurig Green Mountain Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) announced Friday morning that it has “updated” its agreement with Starbucks Corp. (NASDAQ: SBUX), eliminating Starbucks’ exclusive deal to offer super-premium coffee in the K-Cups used by the company’s Keurig brewing system. In exchange, Starbucks will get “improved business terms, including significantly expanded Starbucks K-Cup pack and variety types.”

Shortly after that announcement, Keurig revealed a new multi-year manufacturing an distribution agreement for Peet’s-branded coffee and tea in K-Cup packs. Peet’s currently sells its single-cup offerings in more than 12,000 U.S. stores.

But what’s most interesting about the deal is that Peet’s is owned by German consumer products giant Joh. A. Benckiser (JAB). The German firm paid $1 billion for Peet’s in July of 2012, but also owns D.E. Master Blenders 1753 and Caribou Coffee. D.E. Master Blenders 1753 makes single-serving pads for Nestle’s Nespresso machines.

It’s not a big stretch to think that if K-Cup sales go well in the U.S., JAB may strike a deal with Keurig for the much larger D.E. Master Blenders 1753 to package and distribute K-Cups in the 44 countries that the Netherlands-based beverage company services. D.E. Master Blenders 1753 is considerably smaller than Starbucks, but privately held JAB owns an 80% interest in cosmetics firm Coty Inc. and a number of other consumer brands. The company has deep pockets and the $11 billion or so it spent on acquiring its coffee businesses indicates that it is not fooling around here. JAB can definitely play in the big leagues.

Keurig’s shares are up about 7.6% in late afternoon trading at $114.28 in a 52-week range of $52.58 to $124.42.

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