Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) was soft for most of Thursday on fears that Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) was going to develop the single-serve model beyond the deal that Green Mountain has with the company. The bad news came that Starbucks is going to start selling a single-cup coffee system of its own later in the year. The move certainly looks to be a move to expand beyond the Green Mountain partnership and it may put less emphasis on the existing deal which many have said is far better for Starbucks already.
Maybe in a round-about manner this makes Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE: KFT) look a bit stronger after its coffee deal with Starbucks ended on less than good note. Maybe it is harder to partner and win with Starbucks than just signing paperwork.
Green Mountain shares closed down 2% at $62.40 but the after-hours session had shares down 14.5% at $53.32; Starbucks closed up 1.8% at $50.37 and its shares were up almost 3% more in the after-hours.
Maybe Starbucks can do a better job of selling this unit than that $1,000-plus espresso maker they had just sitting on the floor in the back of the store.
JON C. OGG
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