Publications

September 2020
Teaching Note

Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters

By: Alexander J. MacKay

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 719-451. View Details

Keywords: Cold Brew Coffee; Specialty Coffee; On-premise Coffee Market; Retail Expansion Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Strategy; Decision Making; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Management; Competition

18 Aug 2020
Blog Post

Innovating in the Hot Market of Cold Brew

classmate at Harvard, and super engineer – to build a better device. Neither Olivia nor I planned on using our Harvard MBA to build “kitchen appliances” (in our case, a cold brew View Details

September 2020
Supplement

Commonwealth Joe: January 2020 Update from CEO Robert Peck

By: Alexander J. MacKay

At the end of 2016, the leadership team of Commonwealth Joe Coffee Roasters—Robert Peck, Chase Damiano, and Jeremy Martin—had begun an ambitious retail expansion strategy in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area for their specialty coffee business. That October, they... View Details

Keywords: Cold Brew Coffee; Specialty Coffee; On-premise Coffee Market; Retail Expansion Strategy; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Brands and Branding; Expansion; Strategy; Decision Making; Food and Beverage Industry; Retail Industry

13 Dec 2008
News

When the coffee goes cold

December 2012
Case

Trouble Brewing for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Michael Norris

In October 2011, noted hedge fund manager David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital delivered a presentation at an investors' conference analyzing the business and accounting quality weaknesses of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Until then Green Mountain had exhibited rapid... View Details

March 2014
Teaching Note

Trouble Brewing for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

By: Suraj Srinivasan

21 Jan 2025
News

How One Coffee Shop Is Brewing Change for Business and Society

December 2011
Case

Keurig and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

By: Paul W. Marshall, Thomas R. Eisenmann, Shikhar Ghosh and Lauren Barley

Provides background information for a negotiations exercise in which students will represent either Keurig, a startup that has developed an innovative "portion pack" coffee brewing solution, or Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), a fast-growing premium coffee... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Food and Beverage Industry

November 2018
Case

Yatooq: Longing for Arabic Coffee

By: Mark Roberge, Gamze Yucaoglu and Samer Al-Rachedy

As one of the few female entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia, Lateefa Alwaalan had been trying to produce the perfect cup of Arabic coffee for over a decade. In 2007, she began testing various coffee blends, which she later branded Yatooq, the Arabic word for “craving” or... View Details

December 2011
Case

Keurig: Confidential Information for Negotiation with Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Shikhar Ghosh and James K. Sebenius

Case provides confidential information for students assuming the role of senior executives of Keurig, a startup that has developed an innovative "portion pack" coffee brewing solution, in a negotiation to license technology to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR). The... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Food and Beverage Industry

December 2011
Case

Green Mountain Coffee Roasters: Confidential Information for Negotiation with Keurig

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann, Shikhar Ghosh and James K. Sebenius

Case provides confidential information for students assuming the role of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR) senior executives in a negotiation to license technology from Keurig, a startup that has developed an innovative "portion pack" coffee brewing solution. The... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Food and Beverage Industry

01 Sep 2017
News

A Jolt for the African Coffee Industry

coffee economics. Coffee cherries have to be washed near where they are grown, ideally within 24 hours of being harvested, but most of their value is generated close to where they are View Details

Keywords: Sasha Issenberg; cafe; Cafe Neo; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

March 1999 (Revised June 2004)
Case

Keurig

By: Paul W. Marshall and Jeremy Dann

Nick Lazaris becomes Keurig's third CEO in three years, after one founder was fired and the other decided to leave the company. He inherits a company that has made several abortive attempts to launch its new coffee brewing system. Now, problems with crucial suppliers... View Details

Keywords: Resignation and Termination; Product Launch; Supply Chain Management; Problems and Challenges; Risk and Uncertainty; Manufacturing Industry

August 2024
Case

Keurig: A Return to Growth

By: David Fubini and Patrick Sanguineti

By the early 2010s, Keurig Green Mountain (KGM) had lost the momentum that had made it the name in at-home coffee brewing in North America. Following a series of product missteps, negative media scrutiny, and ongoing challenges to its partner relationships, in late... View Details

Keywords: Turnaround; Mergers and Acquisitions; Decisions; Initial Public Offering; Global Strategy; Growth and Development Strategy; Going Public; Diversification; Expansion; Food and Beverage Industry