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December 3, 2008 2:39:51 AM CST

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Small-Town Coffee Purveyor Goes Grande

Posted May 9, 08 9:00 PM CDT in US,  Business 

(Newser) – A success story is brewing in tiny-town Vermont, where a coffee roaster is supplying beans to 600 McDonald's restaurants across 50 states and 25 countries. The creator of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Bob Stiller, never imagined such a feat—nor the $121 million in sales last quarter—when he started the business in 1981. "This vision of today was not in his mind," Green Mountain exec Jon Wettstein said.

A mix of good planning and good luck made Green Mountain a hit, as did America's love affair with specialty coffees. Now Green Mountain can write large checks for coffee-growing communities and mix a few blends to profit social causes. It's all a far cry from Waterbury, Vt., where Green Mountain's local shop still services a community of fewer than than 5,000 people, the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus reports.

Source Barre-Montpelier Times Argus

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Jim Abair, right, enjoys a free fill-up of Biodiesel for his tractor at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters headquarters in Waterbury, Vt., as G.M.C.R. driver Todd Jones, left, watches on July 10, 2007.   (AP Photo/Alden Pellett)
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters' Gombe Reserve coffee was developed in cooperation with the Jane Goodall Institute.   (AP Photo)
Green Mountain has built a business around astute business planning and socially responsible actions.   (Green Mountain Coffee Roasters)
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coffee • McDonald's • gourmet coffee • coffee roasting • business models • social responsibility


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