????綠山咖啡公司（Green Mountain Coffee Roasters）以生產(chǎn)單杯的Keurig膠囊咖啡機(jī)而聞名。但去年9月份，當(dāng)它在投資者日宣布已開(kāi)始制造冷飲機(jī)時(shí)，著實(shí)讓人大跌眼鏡。

????這家位于佛蒙特州的公司到底在做什么?它真覺(jué)得自己能拓展到碳酸飲料、果汁、多味汽水和類似產(chǎn)品的市場(chǎng)中去嗎？它有這個(gè)實(shí)力嗎？

????本周三，當(dāng)綠山公司獲得了來(lái)自可口可樂(lè)公司（Coca-Cola）的大手筆支持后，持懷疑態(tài)度的人一下子安靜多了。綠山與可口可樂(lè)宣布，雙方將在“Keurig冷飲”平臺(tái)上提供可口可樂(lè)旗下的子品牌冷飲——比如雪碧（Sprite）、芬達(dá)（Fanta）和美汁源（Minute Maid），不過(guò)兩家公司并未明確表明會(huì)是哪個(gè)品牌。它們還宣布，可口可樂(lè)公司斥資12.5億美元收購(gòu)綠山10%的股份。

????綠山的首席執(zhí)行官、同時(shí)也是可口可樂(lè)公司的前高管布萊恩?凱利對(duì)《財(cái)富》雜志（Fortune）表示，這項(xiàng)交易已經(jīng)談了好幾個(gè)月了。他說(shuō)：“他們需要確信我們確實(shí)也能生產(chǎn)可樂(lè)，而且能始終如一保持絕佳的口味才行?！边@臺(tái)Keurig冷飲機(jī)計(jì)劃于明年正式上市。

????從表面上看，這種合作顯得有點(diǎn)不同尋常，但對(duì)兩家公司來(lái)說(shuō)，它完全有可能成為一個(gè)巨大的雙贏。綠山剛剛開(kāi)始自己的國(guó)際化征程。對(duì)它來(lái)說(shuō)，這項(xiàng)交易意味著它能進(jìn)入一個(gè)強(qiáng)大的全球分銷網(wǎng)絡(luò)，同時(shí)還能獲得多個(gè)強(qiáng)勢(shì)品牌。對(duì)可口可樂(lè)來(lái)說(shuō)，單杯膠囊冷飲機(jī)是接觸消費(fèi)者的全新渠道，畢竟這些消費(fèi)者在咖啡領(lǐng)域早已徹底接受了Keurig。

????對(duì)咖啡業(yè)來(lái)說(shuō)，單杯模式一直讓它受益匪淺。近期由美國(guó)銀行（Bank of America）發(fā)布的一份分析師報(bào)告指出，單杯咖啡目前已占據(jù)美國(guó)30%的市場(chǎng)份額，比三年前上升了8%。對(duì)可口可樂(lè)公司來(lái)說(shuō)這是不可錯(cuò)過(guò)的一個(gè)機(jī)會(huì)，因?yàn)樘妓犸嬃系南M(fèi)量在美國(guó)已連續(xù)八年下降，它亟需為泡沫飲料尋找新的增長(zhǎng)點(diǎn)。

????綠山通過(guò)為消費(fèi)者提供多種選擇，已成功將其Keurig熱飲平臺(tái)打入1500萬(wàn)個(gè)家庭。如果你不喜歡綠山咖啡，也就是該公司的同名品牌怎么辦？沒(méi)問(wèn)題——這臺(tái)機(jī)器還能提供21種合作品牌的飲料，包括星巴克（Starbucks）、詩(shī)尚草本（Celestial Seasonings）和馴鹿（Caribou）。

????分析師表示，綠山必須打造出類似的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)才能在冷飲領(lǐng)域贏得消費(fèi)者，而與可口可樂(lè)的合作是其邁出的第一大步。它將推出的各種飲料不僅有碳酸飲料，還有Fuze（一種健康果汁飲料——譯注）和誠(chéng)實(shí)茶（Honest Tea）這種廣受認(rèn)可的果汁和茶飲。

????盡管這項(xiàng)合作確實(shí)給了可口可樂(lè)先人一步的優(yōu)勢(shì)，但凱利表示這并不排除其他品牌也可進(jìn)入Keurig冷飲體系。他并不認(rèn)為可口可樂(lè)所購(gòu)的股份會(huì)讓其他公司對(duì)加盟這個(gè)體系望而卻步。就算在熱飲領(lǐng)域，這也不是什么問(wèn)題。他說(shuō)：“樂(lè)維薩（Lavazza）也有我們公司的股份，但這并不妨礙它的對(duì)手向我們尋求合作?！?/p>

????Keurig冷飲機(jī)將是和Keurig熱咖啡機(jī)不同的單獨(dú)機(jī)器。不過(guò)去年秋天當(dāng)我造訪這家公司位于馬薩諸塞州柏林頓的辦公室時(shí)，凱利向我表示，公司今后會(huì)造一臺(tái)既能提供熱飲、也能提供冷飲的機(jī)器。他還表示，今后可口可樂(lè)可能也會(huì)與Keurig的熱咖啡機(jī)業(yè)務(wù)開(kāi)展合作。

????如果綠山制造飲料的方法不是和可口可樂(lè)公司對(duì)品質(zhì)一致性的要求如此吻合的話，這兩家公司的合作可能根本無(wú)從談起。比如Sodastream這種碳酸飲料機(jī)，用戶可以通過(guò)二氧化碳儲(chǔ)罐決定往水中加入多少碳化作用，此外他們還可以隨心所欲地加各種調(diào)味劑。對(duì)于想要多一點(diǎn)或少一點(diǎn)泡沫的消費(fèi)者來(lái)說(shuō)，這臺(tái)機(jī)器很稱心，但這也使可口可樂(lè)公司不太可能和Sodastream合作，因?yàn)樗Ｍ约旱漠a(chǎn)品無(wú)論何時(shí)喝起來(lái)都該是可口可樂(lè)那個(gè)味兒。

????正如我們?cè)?014年1月16日的《財(cái)富》雜志中所寫(xiě)的，據(jù)綠山的一份專利申請(qǐng)書(shū)稱，它的冷飲可能可被含有二氧化碳這類吸附氣的膠囊內(nèi)的顆粒劑加以碳化，這種膠囊一接觸水就能釋放出氣體。這也就意味著，Keurig冷飲機(jī)不需要什么二氧化碳儲(chǔ)罐，它能精確釋放出健怡可樂(lè)（Diet Coke）或雪碧所需的那種水平的碳化作用和口味。

????去年年末當(dāng)我造訪綠山的辦公室時(shí)，我得以對(duì)員工正在著手制造的Keurig冷飲機(jī)先睹為快，當(dāng)時(shí)它的代號(hào)是Geyser。盡管這個(gè)項(xiàng)目當(dāng)時(shí)還蒙著保密的面紗，但公司高管知道，我對(duì)自己看到的東西其實(shí)一無(wú)所知，因?yàn)槲也皇枪た茖I(yè)出身的。

????不過(guò)，當(dāng)時(shí)我至少能看得出，這個(gè)項(xiàng)目已經(jīng)進(jìn)行了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間了——事實(shí)上已經(jīng)開(kāi)發(fā)了五年之久。那么為什么在這個(gè)節(jié)骨眼上還要把股份賣(mài)給可口可樂(lè)公司呢？凱利向我表示，這筆交易意味著，可口可樂(lè)不僅對(duì)自己的產(chǎn)品在Keurig冷飲機(jī)上表現(xiàn)良好有興趣，還意味著整個(gè)系統(tǒng)運(yùn)作良好與可口可樂(lè)公司利益攸關(guān)。

????去年11月我見(jiàn)到凱利時(shí)他正在喝一罐健怡可樂(lè)（早上10點(diǎn)以后他就改喝蘇打水以減少咖啡因攝入了，因?yàn)樗f(shuō)蘇打水所含咖啡因比咖啡少）。在一月采寫(xiě)的報(bào)道里我們?cè)赋觯绻磺许樌?，他很快就能從自己公司制造的機(jī)器中、而不是鋁罐里喝到蘇打水了?，F(xiàn)在看來(lái)，這一時(shí)刻已經(jīng)近在眼前。

????譯者：清遠(yuǎn)

????Eyes rolled when Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), best known for its single-serve pod Keurig brewing machine, first announced at its September investor day that it was building a system for cold beverages.

????What was the Vermont-based company doing, thinking it could expand into sodas, juices, flavored waters and the like? Did it even have the know-how to do it?

????Skeptics got a little bit quieter Wednesday when Green Mountain received a major endorsement from Coca-Cola (KO). The two companies announced an agreement to make Coca-Cola's brands -- such as Sprite, Fanta, and Minute Maid, though the companies didn't specify which -- available on the "Keurig Cold" platform. They also announced the beverage giant's $1.25 billion purchase of a 10% minority stake in Green Mountain.

????Green Mountain CEO Brian Kelley, a former Coca-Cola executive, told Fortune that the deal had been in development for a number of months. "They needed to have the confidence that we could make Coke and it would taste perfectly every time," he says. The Keurig Cold platform is scheduled to launch next year.

????The partnership seems unusual on the surface, but it has the potential to be a big win-win for both companies. The deal means access to a strong global distribution network and a portfolio of powerful brands for Green Mountain, which is only just starting its international expansion. For Coca-Cola, single-serve pods give the company a new channel to consumers, who have already embraced Keurig in the coffee space.

????Single-serve has been a boon for the coffee industry. A recent Bank of America analyst note reported that single-cup coffee has now captured 30% of the dollar share of the market, up from 8% three years ago. That's a point likely not lost on Coca-Cola, which is looking for a boost with fizzy beverages as soda consumption has seen eight straight years of decline in the U.S.

????Green Mountain managed to get its Keurig platform for hot beverages into 15 million households by offering consumers choice. Don't like Green Mountain coffee, the company's namesake brand? No problem -- there are 21 other partner brands in the system, including Starbucks, Celestial Seasonings, and Caribou.

????Analysts have said Green Mountain would have to create a similar ecosystem to win over consumers in cold beverages, and Coca-Cola is a huge first step. Its portfolio includes not only sodas, but also names in tea and juice like Fuze and Honest Tea that have wide recognition.

????While the partnership does give Coca-Cola a first-mover's advantage, Kelley says it won't preclude other brands from having access to Keurig Cold. He doesn't believe that Coca-Cola's equity stake will keep others from wanting to be part of the system. That certainly hasn't been the case in hot. "Lavazza has an equity stake," he says, "and that didn't prevent their competitors from coming to us."

????Keurig Cold will be a separate machine from the hot Keurig brewer, although CEO Brian Kelley told me this fall when I visited the company's offices in Burlington, Mass., that the company could one day build a machine that handles both hot and cold. Kelley says that Coca-Cola's involvement with the hot Keurig brewer is something the two companies may pursue over time.

????Conversations between the two likely would never have taken place if Green Mountain's approach to making beverages wasn't so in line with Coca-Cola's demand for consistency. With Sodastream, for example, users decide how much carbonation to add to their water through a carbon dioxide tank. They can also pour in as much flavoring as they'd like. That's great for consumers who may like more or less fizz, but makes it unlikely Coca-Cola would ever partner with Sodastream because it wants its product to taste exactly as Coke should every time.

????As we wrote in the January 16, 2014 issue of Fortune magazine, according to a patent application from Green Mountain, its cold beverages may be carbonated by granules inside the pod that contain absorbed gas, such as carbon dioxide, which would be released upon contact with water. That means the Keurig Cold, which won't have a carbon dioxide tank, will dose for the exact level of carbonation and flavoring necessary for, say, a Diet Coke or a Sprite.

????When I visited Green Mountain's offices late last year, I got a sneak peak at employees working on Keurig Cold, which at the time went by the code name Geyser. Despite the secrecy surrounding the project, executives knew I would have no idea what I was looking at since I don't have an engineering degree.

????What I could tell, however, was that the project was far along -- it had been in development for five years. So why give Coca-Cola an equity stake at this point in the game? Kelley told me that the deal means that not only does Coca-Cola have an interest in its products doing well on the Keurig Cold, but it means Coca-Cola has in interest in the entire system doing well.

????Kelley was drinking a Diet Coke when I met with him in November. (He switches to soda after 10 a.m. to reduce his caffeine consumption because he says soda has less caffeine than coffee.) In our January magazine story we noted that if he had it his way, he'd soon be able to get his soda out of a machine made by his own company than out of a can. That moment is no longer that far off.