Starbucks Coffee has entered into a five year strategic agreement with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) to manufacture, market, distribute and sell Starbucks- and Tazo-branded single serve packs for use in GMCR’s Keurig single serve brewing systems across the globe.
Under the partnership, Starbucks will add brands and varietals to the Starbucks K-Cup and Vue pack portfolio for Keurig single cup brewers and add brands offered on the Keurig platform.
New brands to be offered include Seattle's Best Coffee, Torrefazione Italia coffee, Teavana Teas and Starbucks Cocoa.
The new agreement further extends the Keurig system's position as the low-pressure single cup brewing system for Starbucks coffee, Tazo tea and other Starbucks brands.
Starbucks chairman, president and CEO Howard Schultz said that this new deal will strengthen the company's position in the single cup category.
"The new agreement also affords us the opportunity to expand our successful K-Cup® and Vue® pack portfolio of products and brands beyond North America and to market them on a truly global scale over time." Schultz added.
"Going forward, not only will Starbucks continue to leverage GMCR's growing installed Keurig® brewer base totaling millions of North American households, but GMCR will directly benefit from the many Starbucks brand assets we bring to bear on the coffee marketplace as it pursues global expansion of its business and platform."
