绿山咖啡的跨界野心

    2012年底，布莱恩•凯利作别曾经在可口可乐(Coca-Cola Co.)创下的辉煌成就（此前不久，他刚刚被任命为Coca-Cola Refreshments的下一任总裁兼首席营运官），转投总部位于佛蒙特州沃特伯里、规模相对较小的咖啡生产商绿山咖啡烘焙公司(Green Mountain Coffee Roasters)。

    以收入计，绿山咖啡的规模只有可口可乐的1/12左右。凯利加入时,绿山咖啡也有一堆麻烦，包括公司股票被对冲基金Greenlight Capital的戴维•爱因霍恩唱空,美国证券交易委员会(SEC)从2010年开始的对该公司会计行为的调查，等等。

    但相比可口可乐，凯利喜欢绿山咖啡这样仍处於公司发展早期、拥有巨大发展空间的企业。“它对于消费者是一项新技术，一个新主张，”他说。“它仍处於婴儿期。”

    绿山咖啡大约出现在20世纪80年代早期，但直到2006年这家咖啡烘焙公司才收购了著名的单杯饮品系统提供商Keurig。

    “只有到了过去六年，这两家公司才真正实现了和谐共处，互相整合，期间也发生了很多奇迹，”凯利表示。自从去年12月凯利成为CEO以来，绿山咖啡的股价已经回升超过85%。

    除了“绿山”产品线，这家公司还与30个不同的品牌合作，比如Celestial Seasonings、Swiss Miss和Caribou Coffee，将它们的产品提供给Keurig咖啡机的消费者。

    目前只有13%的家庭拥有Keurig咖啡机，公司也尚未拓展至北美地区以外。凯利关注的增长不止于地域。周四，该公司宣布推出一款新机器BOLT，大约两分钟就可以煮好一壶64盎司的咖啡，非常适合像办公室和便利店这样的场所。

    但绿山的未来已不限于咖啡。凯利在接受《财富》杂志(Fortune)采访时列出了公司向综合性饮料企业转型的扩张计划。下面是经过编辑的采访节选：

    您的合作伙伴们会不会担心如果他们成为Keurig咖啡机的一部分，他们自己的业务就会被扼杀？比方说，如果我能在家用自己的Keurig咖啡机煮一杯星巴克(Starbucks)咖啡，成本只有星巴克的几分之一时，为什么我还要去星巴克？

    有2/3的饮料是在家消费的，1/3是在其他地方消费的。我们并不认为这一点在发生改变。在家消费的很多都是水。现在你是给他们一种产品，让他们能像获得一杯水那样容易地享用一杯饮料。他们要做的只是打开机器，在下面放一个玻璃杯。

    Brian Kelley left a great gig at Coca-Cola Co. -- he had just been tapped as the next president and chief operating office of refreshments -- to run Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, a relatively tiny java maker based in Waterbury, Vt.

    Green Mountain (GMCR) is about one-twelfth the size of Coca-Cola (KO) by revenue. When Kelley joined, the company also had a series of issues trailing behind it, among them a short on the stock from Greenlight Capital's David Einhorn and an ongoing SEC investigation into its accounting practices that began in 2010.

    But Kelley liked that, relative to Coca-Cola, Green Mountain was a company early in its life cycle with room to grow. "This is a new technology and new proposition for consumers," he says. "It's still in its infancy."

    While Green Mountain Coffee had been around since the early 1980s, it wasn't until 2006 that the coffee roaster acquired Keurig, the beverage system best known for its single-serve brewing.

    "It's really only the last six years that these two have co-existed and integrated, and that's where all the magic has been made," Kelley says. The stock has returned more than 85% since he became CEO in December last year.

    In addition to its Green Mountain line, the company works with 30 different brands such as Celestial Seasonings, Swiss Miss, and Caribou Coffee to make their products available to consumers for the Keurig system.

    Only 13% of households have Keurig brewers, and the company has yet to expand beyond North America. Kelley also sees growth beyond geography. The company announced Thursday a new brewing system, the BOLT, which brews a 64-ounce pot of coffee in about two minutes -- ideal for serving locations like offices and convenience stores.

    But the future of Green Mountain extends beyond coffee. In an interview with Fortune, Kelley laid out the company's plans to expand into an all-encompassing beverage business. The following are edited excerpts:

    Are your partners concerned that they'll cannibalize their business when they become part of the Keurig system? For example, why would I go to Starbucks (SBUX) when I could use my Keurig to brew Starbucks coffee at home for a fraction of the cost?

    Two-thirds of beverages are consumed at home, with one-third consumed away from home. We don't see that changing. Much of the consumption at home is water, and now you're giving them a product that they can get as easily as they get a glass of water. All they do is just pop in a pod and put a glass under it.