Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR)

Competition in the specialty coffee market is intense and could affect Green Mountain Coffee’s profitability.

The specialty coffee and brewer market is highly fragmented. Competition in the specialty coffee market is becoming increasingly intense as relatively low barriers to entry encourage new competitors to enter the specialty coffee market. Many of our current and potential competitors have substantially greater financial, marketing and operating resources. Our primary competitors in specialty coffee sales include Gevalia Kaffe (Kraft Foods), Dunkin’ Donuts, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Millstone^® (Procter & Gamble), New England Coffee Company and Starbucks. There are numerous smaller, regional brands that also compete in this category. In addition, we compete indirectly against all other coffee brands on the market. A number of nationwide coffee marketers, such as Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee and Nestlé, are distributing premium coffee brands in supermarkets. These premium coffee brands may serve as substitutes for our coffee. If we do not succeed in effectively differentiating ourselves from our competitors or our competitors adopt our strategies, then our competitive position may be weakened.