After initially investing in Keurig’s single-cup brewing system, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters’ founder Bob Stiller saw a bigger opportunity. Because Keurig brewing systems sell at or near cost, the real money comes from the royalties other brands pay to have their coffee, tea, or cocoa products distributed in K-cups. So GMCR acquired Keurig in 2006. With that acquisition, GMCR’s fortunes soared, growing at double-digit rates. The company forecasted a 40 to 45 percent increase in sales for a recent year. Keurig has captured the single-brew coffee market in offices, hotel rooms, and homes, yet enormous potential remains. The office coffee market has about 2.6 million brewers. About 12 percent have single-cup systems, and half of those are Keurig’s. About 80 percent of America’s 5 million hotel rooms have traditional coffeemakers. As single-brew popularity spreads, GMCR sees upscale hotels as a prime target. But the fastest-growing market is homes. Keurig is used in just 6 percent so far, but the single-brew system is now available in retail outlets like Costco, Sears, BJ’s, and Macy’s. On deck is a smaller, portable Keurig brewer with its own travel bag. Two years after the Keurig acquisition, GMCR founder Stiller stepped down as president and CEO but remains chairman. The experience of his successor, Larry Blanford, helps GMCR continue its unprecedented growth. Blanford has a background in large consumer goods companies such as Maytag and Procter & Gamble. Under Blanford, GMCR is continuing its expansion by opening roasting and K-cup processing units in Tennessee and buying Seattle-based Tully’s Coffee. The Tully’s acquisition provides a foothold in office coffee services, food service distributors, and more than 5,000 grocery stores in the West. The link to supermarkets reinforces the sale of Keurig brewers in supermarkets.

• Despite economic and environmental uncertainty, GMCR is growing rapidly while its industry as a whole is struggling. Why do you think this is so? 

• What should be Larry Blanford’s next move as CEO?