By Allison Watkinson
TLL Reporter
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters has launched a licensing partnership with American actor Kevin Costner for a series of themed coffee blends.
Owned by Keurig Dr. Pepper, Green Mountain Coffee is a sustainable coffee brand that uses responsibly sourced coffee beans from farming communities and coffee cooperatives.
To celebrate the licensing partnership with Costner, Green Mountain is donating a hundred thousand dollars to its long-standing non-profit partner, Root Capital.
Root Capital is a social impact investment organization that provides services such as financial loans and business training to agricultural enterprises across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Since 1999, the investment organization has provided loans to approximately 800 businesses and training to employees from over 1,600 agricultural businesses.
“The Green Mountain Coffee Roasters team’s unwavering dedication to responsible sourcing and great tasting coffee made this an authentic partnership for me,” said Costner. “To be able to harness this passion is something I’m incredibly grateful for. And we have some more great things coming that I think everyone’s really going to like.”
The collaborative licensing partnership is supported by an integrated Green Mountain Coffee branded marketing campaign that prominently features Costner.
The campaign marks the first brand marketing initiative that the actor has participated in for the last 30 years.
“Kevin is an icon both on-and-off the screen,” said Keurig Dr Pepper SVP, Becky Opdyke. “Whether he is creating and sharing stories through film and television or working on environmental conservation, he goes all in on his passions. We are thrilled to partner with him and to co-create a blend that celebrates a dedication to our crafts.”
The first Green Mountain Coffee blend that will be released for the partnership is called Horizon Blend by Kevin Costner.
Costner worked directly with the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters product design team to create a complex flavor profile for the Horizon Blend that caters to his personal coffee preferences.
Inspired by the actor’s experiences of western America, Horizon Blend by Kevin Costner is a bold, dark roast coffee that is crafted to serve as an ideal base for Costner’s favorite drink, a café mocha.
Costner and the brand wanted to create a coffee that would appeal to a wide range of coffee fans.
“Alongside the Green Mountain Coffee Roasters team, we embarked on a journey of exploration, experimenting with various concepts,” said Costner. “They were able to help guide me through the process where my opinion was valued and incorporated. It was the best outcome I could have imagined.”
Horizon Blend by Kevin Costner is currently available for purchase through the official Keurig ecommerce website and will debut at select retailers across the U.S. in January 2024.
Green Mountain and Kevin Costner Launch Collaborative Coffee Blend
