Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) is reportedly exploring expanding beyond its core coffee and tea categories into carbonated drinks, juices, sports drinks and perhaps even dairy and soups.
The maker of the Keurig coffee brewer and single-serve K-Cups has revolutionized the coffee business and, according to Investors.com, is hoping to do the same in adjacent product offerings.
Although the company has not made any official announcement, analysts are expecting news at the company’s Sept.10 investor day, based on hints GMCR has made recently about its future.
“We think there are some very strong advantages that we brought to the hot beverage platform, the Keurig as consumers know it today, that we believe we can leverage into other adjacent platforms,” Suzanne DuLong, GMCR’s vice president of corporate communications, told Investors.com. The cold platform would include fruit-based beverages, sports beverages, enhanced waters or carbonated drinks. The specialty platform would have dairy or soups, DuLong noted.
GMCR’s Keurig has an estimated 85 percent to 90 percent market share for single-cup brewers in the at-home segment. Beverage brands it sells via K-Cups include Lipton, Snapple, Tazo, Kirkland, Dunkin’ Donuts, Celestial Seasonings, Starbucks, Cinnabon, Swiss Miss and the Coffee Bean.
The average U.S. household consumes an average of 19 servings of nonalcoholic beverages per day, according to GMCR, with coffee representing 13 percent. Coffee, along with the other four top beverages – water, carbonated drinks, juice drinks and tea – comprise 93 percent of total consumption.
“It will be very interesting to see what the company releases to the public,” Marc Riddick, senior analyst at the Williams Capital Group, told Investors.com. “The expectation is that they are going to be unveiling new product, which hopefully will be available in time for the holiday season. If their technology is good enough that it’s a cost-effective and attractive value proposition to the consumer, and the consumer already knows the brand, they’ll have a very good opportunity.”
