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    Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. Announces Winning Proposals For Changing Climate Change

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    Recipients to Receive $800,000 in Total Over Five Years

     

    In honor of Earth Day, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) today announced the winners of its challenge to find potential solutions to climate change. The contest site on JustMeans.com received more than one million page hits, over 100,000 unique visitors, and created an online social network of nearly 30,000 stakeholders interested in "Changing Climate Change."

    More than 100 nonprofit organizations from around the world submitted proposals to address climate change in four specific areas: threats to coffee-growing communities, transportation-related emissions, building political will, and empowering individual action. GMCR has named four nonprofit organizations that will each receive a $200,000 grant, payable over five years.

    Threats to coffee-growing communities: The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) will use the grant to map forecasts of the impacts of climate change in coffee-growing communities and help smallholder coffee farmers identify, evaluate and implement adaptation strategies.

    Transportation-related emissions: New England Transportation Institute, in partnership with the University of Vermont Transportation Research Center, will conduct an in-depth analysis of transportation patterns in the rural Northeast to help inform policy-makers on the likely adoption and ultimate effect of different transportation strategies on greenhouse gas emissions levels.

    Building political will: Ceres will mobilize its business and investor partners to make the economic case for bold U.S. climate and energy legislation in 2009. These leaders will take their message to legislators and the media.

    Empowering individual action: The National Parks Conservation Association will encourage and empower national park visitors to "Do Your Part" to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Outreach will include dozens of national parks and their local communities, the web, and hundreds of schools.

    The grants are part of Changing Climate Change, GMCR's company-wide initiative that also includes operational initiatives, employee incentives to reduce carbon emissions, and the purchase of carbon offsets.

    "Working to protect the environment is one of our core company values," says Michael Dupee, Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. "Long-term solutions to climate change will come from the combined efforts of all of us-nonprofits, for-profits, the government, and individuals. We're very excited by the potential these organizations and projects have to create positive change on this issue globally, as well as in our own operations."

    Details of the winning proposals can be found on GMCR's web site at www.BrewingABetterWorld.com

    About Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (GMCR)
    As a leader in the specialty coffee industry, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ: GMCR) is recognized for its award-winning coffees, innovative brewing technology, and socially responsible business practices. 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 Tully's Coffee(R), Green Mountain Coffee(R) and Newman's Own(R) Organics coffee. The Keurig business unit is a pioneer and leading manufacturer of gourmet single-cup brewing systems. K-Cup(R) portion packs for Keurig(R) Single-Cup Brewers are produced by a variety of licensed roasters, including Green Mountain Coffee and Tully's Coffee. GMCR supports local and global communities by offsetting 100% of its direct greenhouse gas emissions, investing in Fair Trade Certified(TM) coffee, and donating at least five percent of its pre-tax profits to social and environmental projects. Visit www.GreenMountainCoffee.com and www.Keurig.com for more information.

    For more information please contact:

    Sandy Yusen, Director of Public Relations
    Green Mountain Coffee
    866-968-2739
    www.GreenMountainCoffee.com
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    		   Martin Smith 23 April 2009
    what is Blue Mountain? Doesn't sound like Green Mountain lost a customer in Ray! :)
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    		   Michelle Bernhart 22 April 2009
    I have to respectfully disagree with your assessment that these four grants represent only studies and forecasts. Helping small coffee growers adapt to climate change is a necessary reality. While we work toward ways to reduce GHGs and mitigate climate change, we also have to be realistic about the need to adapt. Regarding transportation, I'm all for policymakers having the best possible information before they start spending public funds on what could potentially be the wrong transportation choices. And surely some decisions can be made before the 5-year period is over. Likewise, I'm sure the Ceres grant will produce legislative results sooner rather than later (at least sooner than 5 years). And, I love the idea of inspiring individual action through our national parks. What better place to reach those who may already be predisposed to want to implement and model behaviors that will ultimately help us all? Dealing with climate change involves challenging work on many fronts and in many sectors of society. These four grants represent at least some of the diversity in thought leadership and action required to tackle this daunting issue.
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    		   Carlton Jackson 22 April 2009
    A critique is OK but please help us understand what "real action" means to you. The world of civilized beings is inhabited by individuals. Individuals who make decisions (real action) every day. Individuals create the problems or solutions with their actions. Reaching individuals with reasoned ideas and non-judgmental discussion that inspires change on an individual basis, is one proven technique to raise awareness. What is your point?
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    		   Ray Garcia 22 April 2009
    Really? We are going to analyze problems instead of address them with $800,000? I voted and monitored this competition just to see a bunch of studies and forecasts get funded. I thought this was a serious competition. Be sure to send me your analyses in five years so that can place them on the shelf with all the others collecting dust.



    I wish to inform you that we need real action! I suppose as a corporate entity Blue Mountain was afraid to push the envelope and preferred to have the envelope push them. Not to take away from any of the winning (or losing) organizations, but I am extremely disappointed in Blue Mountain. Time to search for a different coffee company that isn't interested in a cheap public-relations stunt with their charitable-donations tax write-offs.
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