AUGUSTA, Maine & WATERBURY, Vt. -- Pine State Trading Co. and the Specialty Coffee Business Unit of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. said that the companies have entered into an asset purchase agreement through which GMCR will transition direct customer support in its northeast region, including responsibility for sales representation, order management, delivery and equipment service, to Pine State Trading, a full-service wholesale distributor to convenience stores throughout the Northeast and the largest beer, wine and spirits distributor in the State of Maine.
The [image-nocss] transaction is expected to close as of Sept. 13, 2010. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Waterbury, Vt.-based GMCR's operations are managed through two business units. The Specialty Coffee business unit produces coffee, tea and hot cocoa from its family of brands, including Green Mountain Coffee, Newman's Own Organics coffee, Tully's Coffee, Timothy's World Coffee and Diedrich Coffee. The Keurig business unit is a leading manufacturer of single-cup brewing systems. K-Cup portion packs for Keurig Single-Cup Brewers are produced by a variety of licensed roasters and brands, including Green Mountain Coffee, Tully's Coffee, Timothy's and Diedrich.
"Since we first began our wholesale business, GMCR has maintained a direct-store distribution model in the northeast region of the United States," said Scott McCreary, president of the Specialty Coffee Business Unit of GMCR. "Changing customer requirements led us to conclude it was time to transition the region to a more scalable distributor-based model consistent with the way we operate nationally and in Canada."
GMCR currently operates regional operations centers in Southington, Conn.; Biddeford, Maine; Wilmington, Mass.; and Latham, N.Y. As part of the agreement, Pine State Trading will assume those operations.
Following completion of GMCR's acquisition of Diedrich Coffee Inc. on May 11, 2010, GMCR employed approximately 2,100 full-time employees in the United States and Canada through its Specialty Coffee and Keurig business units.
GMCR expects 121 GMCR employees will be affected by the transition to Augusta, Maine-based Pine State Trading. The majority of those employees will either continue employment with GMCR or be offered employment with Pine State Trading upon closing of the transaction in accordance with the terms of the purchase agreement.
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