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Small-Town Coffee Purveyor Goes Grande

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is climbing, financially and socially

By Clay Dillow,  Newser Staff

Posted May 9, 2008 9:00 PM CDT

(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.

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.
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 has built a business around astute business planning and socially responsible actions.
Green Mountain has built a business around astute business planning and socially responsible actions.   (Green Mountain Coffee Roasters)
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters' Gombe Reserve coffee was developed in cooperation with the Jane Goodall Institute.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters' Gombe Reserve coffee was developed in cooperation with the Jane Goodall Institute.   (AP Photo)
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