Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc., (GMCR) a provider of specialty coffee and single-serve brewing systems, and Eight O’Clock Coffee Co. (a member of the Tata Global Beverages family of brands), announced the companies have reached a multiyear agreement to make Eight O’Clock® coffee, Tetley® tea, and Good Earth® tea available in K-Cup® and Vue™ packs for Keurig® single cup brewing systems. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Eight O’Clock Coffee Co. and GMCR plan to make a select offering of Eight O’Clock® coffee K-Cup® packs available through in-home and away-from-home channels, as well as on GMCR’s consumer direct websites, www.Keurig.com and www.GreenMountainCoffee.com, throughout the U.S. and Canada beginning in fall 2012. In the U.S, Tetley® teas, and in the U.S. and Canada, Good Earth® teas intend to join the K-Cup® pack collection in 2013.
"For generations, millions of coffee lovers have enjoyed brewing the fresh taste of high-quality Eight O'Clock® coffee. Now they will have a whole new, convenient way to make America's original gourmet coffee with Keurig®, America's favorite single cup brewing system," says David Allen, senior vice president, sales and marketing at Tata Beverage Group’s U.S. region in a prepared statement. "We look forward to working with GMCR to make the top-selling whole bean coffee brand into a successful single cup coffee."
“This new relationship will provide Keurig® brewer owners with additional choice by having Eight O’Clock® coffee, Tetley® tea, and Good Earth® tea readily available for their brewers,” says Lawrence J. Blanford, GMCR president and CEO. “With this agreement, we are excited to once again deliver upon our promise of supplying unsurpassed quality, variety, and convenience in the Keurig® system.”
GMCR’s Keurig® Single Cup Brewers for in-home and office use utilize patented, innovative brewing and single-cup technology to deliver a fresh-brewed, perfect cup of coffee, tea, or cocoa every time at just the touch of a button. According to the NPD Group®, Keurig® Single Cup Brewers were the top four bestselling coffee makers during GMCR’s fiscal second quarter 2012 by dollar sales.