The boardroom at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR.DL) is starting to become a Murderers' Row of consumer-facing visionaries.
The company behind the Keurig one-cup coffee brewing system announced some changes this morning. Former Kellogg (K 0.28%) CEO David Mackay is the latest independent director to join the board. The company's board also voted to make Norman Wesley -- the former Fortune Brands CEO who joined Green Mountain's board this summer -- its new chairman.
Oh, and if that's not enough shuffling about for you, the java heavy's filing also has its chief legal officer stepping down come March.
Stack all of this on top of last month's announcement that Coca-Cola (KO 0.15%) executive Brian Kelley is its new CEO, and you get a company that has repositioned itself with seasoned vets from a handful of somewhat related companies.
Coca-Cola makes soft drinks, sure, but it also markets orange juice, bottled water, and other juice lines. Distiller Fortune Brands recently split its operations in two, including Jim Beam distributor Beam (BEAM.DL). Neither company makes coffee, but they are both big names in consumer beverages.
Kellogg also doesn't make coffee, but when your specialty is breakfast, you know that a cup of freshly brewed bean water isn't too far away.
Not everyone is happy with the amount of money that Green Mountain is shelling out in attracting Kelley, but the collection of industry pros who know their way around the supermarket aisle or beverage market is impressive.
When Green Mountain's K-Cup patents expired three months ago, investors were understandably concerned about the company's future growth prospects. Well, the strong appointments and buoyant share price have helped silence a lot of those knocks.
Green Mountain's board -- now consisting of eight independent directors among the 10 serving members -- will serve the company well as it pours out a new brew for the future.
