Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR)

Decreased availability of high-quality Arabica coffee beans could result in a decrease in revenue and jeopardize our Company’s ability to maintain or expand our business.

While production of commercial grade coffee is on the rise, many industry experts are concerned about the ability of specialty coffee production to keep pace with demand. Arabica coffee beans of the quality we purchase are not readily available on the commodity markets. We depend on our relationships with coffee brokers, exporters and growers for the supply of our primary raw material, high-quality Arabica coffee beans. In particular, the supply of Fair Trade Certified™ coffees is limited. We may not be able to purchase enough Fair Trade Certified™ coffees to satisfy the rapidly increasing demand for such coffees, which could impact our revenue growth. Furthermore, a worldwide supply shortage of the high quality Arabica coffee beans we purchase could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Political instability in coffee growing regions could result in a decrease in the availability of high-quality Arabica coffee beans needed for the continued operation and growth of our business and an increase in our operating costs.

Our Company roasts Arabica coffee beans from many different regions to produce over 100 types and blends of coffee. The political situation in many of those regions, including Africa, Indonesia, and Central and South America, can be unstable, and such instability could affect our ability to purchase coffee from those regions. If Arabica coffee beans from a region become unavailable or prohibitively expensive, we could be forced to discontinue particular coffee types and blends or substitute coffee beans from other regions in our blends. Frequent substitutions and changes in our coffee product lines could lead to cost increases, customer alienation and fluctuations in our gross margins.