Success Stories: Product Development

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
Submitted by: T.J. Whalen

Issue(s) you addressed?

How to increase domestic demand for sustainable (Fair Trade and organic) coffee.

What did you do to achieve results?
(If applicable, you may want to mention partners here.)

1) Develop brand(s) to appeal to consumers. 2) Develop partnerships to ensure supply availability and production infrastructure. 3) Align and collaborate with NGO's, advocacy groups, and distribution channels to create and deliver value though entire supply/demand chain. 4) Actively create demand for sustainable products.

Challenges you faced and/or still face?

1) Increasing consumer awareness, understanding and demand. 2) Convincing buyers to pay higher prices for sustainable products. 3) Fractionalized and competitive motives among various constituencies. 4) Higher internal costs of managing a more complex system of supply and demand.

Achievements--current and/or anticipated?

1) Partnerships with leading consumer brands such as Newman's Own. 2) 50+% annual growth of Fair Trade coffee sales. 3) Now have run rate of over 6 million lbs of Fair Trade certified coffee. 4) Distribution of Fair Trade coffee in most major grocery chains and many leading foodservice providers such as Sodexho, Aramark and McDonald's. 5) Now generating annually over $5 million in direct income to farmer-led coffee cooperatives, including over $1 million in social and infrastructure investments to benefit over 72,000 coffee farmers and their families.