Keurig Green Mountain says it will build a major manufacturing facility in Georgia, as it prepares to introduce a new beverage system called Keurig Cold.
The company, formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, says the new facility will compliment a smaller production center in Williston.
The cold beverage system represents a major new product line for the company. But it’s still unclear how many Vermont jobs will be created as the company expands into the lucrative market.
As popular as the K-Cups have been for coffee and other hot beverages, the new system has even greater potential.
Keurig Green Mountain estimates the cold beverage market is four to five times larger.
The new Georgia facility will employee 550 people and produce pods, like the familiar K-Cups, for the cold system. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal made the announcement last week.
In February Keurig Green Mountain announced a partnership with Georgia-based Coca Cola. Under the agreement Coke will be the largest single stakeholder in the Vermont company.
Keurig’s corporate headquarters are in Waterbury.
The company has research, manufacturing and distribution facilities elsewhere in Vermont and in five other states and Montreal.
The cold beverage system represents a major new product line for the company. But it's still unclear how many Vermont jobs will be created as the company expands into the lucrative market.
The Keurig machines themselves are made in Asia, but the initial production of the cold beverage system is taking place in Vermont.
In a conference call last month, Keurig President and CEO Brian Kelley talked about what’s been accomplished so far.
“We have working machines that we’ve manufactured in a manufacturing environment,” Kelley said. “We’re producing them in a manufacturing environment, but a system like this takes significant development and that’s the process underway.”
A spokesperson for Keurig says the company expects to increase manufacturing and other jobs in Vermont as it expands into the cold beverage market, but there are no estimates for the number of jobs that might be created.
The company says it has an estimated 2,100 employees in Vermont, about one-third of its entire workforce.
The company says it has an estimated 2,100 employees in Vermont, about one-third of its entire workforce.
The state has taken an active role in encouraging Keurig to expand in Vermont.
Since 2007, the company has qualified for millions of dollars in payments under the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive Program.
