WATERBURY, Vt.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Snapple this week agree to a deal that will make Snapple iced tea available this spring for use in Keurig and Vue single-serve drink machines.
Like similar deals with Starbucks, Dunkin' Brands Group Inc. and Caribou Coffee Co., offering the popular line of DrPepper SnappleGroup teas gives the Vermont-based GMCR an edge over discount and private-label beverage manufacturers.
In a joint release the Plano, Tex.-based Snapple and GMCR wrote that “Snapple K-Cup pack iced teas will be offered in a variety of at home and away from home channels for Keurig brewer consumers in the United States and Canada in Spring 2013, with Vue packs to follow. The new beverages will join the current Brew Over Ice collection, a linespecially crafted to brew iced beverages with anyKeurig brewing system.
Sales of single-serve K-Cups and pods continue to rise. Market researcher Euromonitor International estimates $959.1 billion in 2012 coffee sales, about 10 percent of the world market.
Keurig, which perfected the single-serve machine in the 1990s, was acquired by GMCR which subsequently licensed well-known brands or acquired several roasters.
“We’re happy to welcome Snapple to our family of Keurig brewed iced beverages; a leader in the premium ready-to-drink tea category,” said Lawrence J. Blanford, GMCR President and CEO. 'The world's most popular beverage brands continue to see value in aligning with our Keurig single cup brewing systems and, in turn, further our effort to offer unsurpassed choice to meet a broad range of consumer taste preferences for every beverage occasion. With the addition ofSnapple to our family of valued partners and brands, we're thrilled to make available an even wider selection of well-known, quality brew overice beverages to choose and enjoy at the touch of a button.
'We are always looking for innovative new ways to bring our great brands to our consumers, and we think the Keurig brewing system will do exactly that with Snapple,' said Regan Ebert,Senior Vice President, Brand Marketing at DPS. 'Through our relationship with GMCR, we’re making Snapple teas available in an exciting new format that will introduce us to new occasions and bring new fans to the Snapple trademark.'
Source: NBC News, BevNet