Keurig Dr Pepper 10-K 2021-12-31

Filed 2022-02-24. 23 sections, 512K characters. Original on sec.gov · Markdown · JSON

What changed since the 2020-12-31 10-KNew, removed and reworded risk factor headings, then every item sentence by sentence.

Cover and table of contents

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED December 31, 2021

OR

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM TO

COMMISSION FILE NUMBER 001-33829

kdp-20211231_g1.jpg

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware98-0517725
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)(I.R.S. employer identification number)

53 South Avenue

Burlington, Massachusetts 01803

(Address of principal executive offices)

(781) 418-7000

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer", "accelerated filer", "smaller reporting company", and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Large Accelerated Filer ☒ Accelerated Filer ☐ Non-Accelerated Filer ☐ Smaller Reporting Company ☐ Emerging Growth Company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934).Yes ☐ No ☒

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each classTrading SymbolName of each exchange on which registered
Common stockKDPThe Nasdaq Stock Market LLC

As of June 30, 2021, the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter, the aggregate market value of the registrant's common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant (treating directors, executive officers and beneficial owners of 10% or more of the registrant’s common stock outstanding as of that date, for this purpose, as affiliates) was approximately $29.5 billion (based on the closing sales price of the registrant's common stock on that date).

As of February 22, 2022, there were 1,418,158,363 shares of the registrant's common stock, par value $0.01 per share, outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant's definitive proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the registrant's Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference in Part III.

KEURIG DR PEPPER INC.

FORM 10-K

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021

Page
PART I
Item 1Business1
Item 1ARisk Factors12
Item 1BUnresolved Staff Comments22
Item 2Properties23
Item 3Legal Proceedings23
Item 4Mine Safety Disclosures23
PART II
Item 5Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities24
Item 6[Reserved]24
Item 7Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations25
Item 7AQuantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk48
Item 8Financial Statements and Supplementary Data49
Item 9Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosures104
Item 9AControls and Procedures104
Item 9BOther Information104
Item 9CDisclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections104
PART III
Item 10Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance105
Item 11Executive Compensation105
Item 12Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters105
Item 13Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence105
Item 14Principal Accountant Fees and Services105
PART IV
Item 15Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules106
Item 16Form 10-K Summary108
Signatures109

KEURIG DR PEPPER INC.

FORM 10-K

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021

MASTER GLOSSARY

TermDefinition
2009 Incentive PlanKeurig Dr Pepper Inc. Omnibus Incentive Plan of 2009 (formerly known as the Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan of 2009)
2019 Incentive PlanKeurig Dr Pepper Inc. Omnibus Incentive Plan of 2019
2019 KDP Term LoanKDP’s $2 billion term loan, executed in February 2019 and terminated in March 2021
2020 364-Day Credit AgreementThe Company's $1,500 million credit agreement, which was entered into on April 12, 2020 and replaced the 2019 364-Day Credit Agreement
2021 364-Day Credit AgreementThe Company's $1,500 million credit agreement, which was entered into on March 26, 2021 and contains a term-out option
2022 Revolving Credit AgreementKDP’s $4 billion revolving credit agreement, which was executed in February 2022 and replaced the 2021 364-Day Credit Agreement and the KDP Revolver
A ShocAdrenaline Shoc, an equity method investment of KDP and a brand of energy drinks
ABCThe American Bottling Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KDP
ABIAnheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV
AOCIAccumulated other comprehensive income or loss
ASUAccounting Standards Update
BedfordBedford Systems, LLC, an equity method investment of KDP and the maker of Drinkworks
BoardThe Board of Directors of KDP
BodyArmorBA Sports Nutrition, LLC
bpsbasis points
Central StatesThe Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund
CERTCouncil for Education and Research on Toxins
Coca-ColaThe Coca-Cola Company
CostcoCostco Wholesale Corporation
CSDCarbonated soft drink
DIODays inventory outstanding
DPODays of payables outstanding
DPSDr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.
DPS MergerThe combination of the business operations of Keurig and DPS that was consummated on July 9, 2018 through a reverse merger transaction, whereby a wholly-owned special purpose merger subsidiary of DPS merged with and into the direct parent of Keurig
DSDDirect Store Delivery, the reporting unit whereby finished beverages are delivered directly to retailers
DSODays sales outstanding
EPSEarnings per share
ESGEnvironmental, social and governance
Exchange ActSecurities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended
FASBFinancial Accounting Standards Board
FFSFountain Foodservice, an operating segment of KDP which serves the fountain channel, such as restaurants
FXForeign exchange
IRiInformation Resources, Inc.
IRSInternal Revenue Service
JABJAB Holding Company S.a.r.l., and affiliates
JPMorganJPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
KDP Credit AgreementsCollectively, the KDP Revolver, the 364-day credit agreements, and the 2019 KDP Term Loan
KDP RevolverThe Company's $2,400 million revolving credit facility, which was entered into on February 28, 2018
KeurigKeurig Green Mountain, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of KDP, and the brand of our brewers
LIBORLondon Interbank Offered Rate
LifeFuelsLifeFuels, Inc., an equity method investment

i

KEURIG DR PEPPER INC.

FORM 10-K

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021

NasdaqThe Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
NCBNon-carbonated beverage
NotesCollectively, the Company's senior unsecured notes
NPDThe NPD Group's Total Market Dataset
NYSENew York Stock Exchange
PCI StandardPayment Card Industry Data Security Standard
PepsiCoPepsiCo, Inc.
Peet'sPeet's Coffee & Tea, Inc.
PETPolyethylene terephthalate, which is used to make the Company's plastic bottles
PRMBPost-retirement medical benefit
Proposition 65The State of California's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986
Proxy StatementThe definitive proxy statement for the Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be filed with the SEC within 120 days of December 31, 2021, pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Exchange Act
PSUPerformance stock unit
rPETPost-consumer recycled PET
RSURestricted stock unit
RTDReady to drink
RVGResidual value guarantee
S&PStandard & Poor’s
SECSecurities and Exchange Commission
SG&ASelling, general and administrative
U.S. GAAPAccounting principles generally accepted in the U.S.
Veyron SPEsSpecial purpose entities with the same sponsor, Veyron Global
VIEVariable interest entity
WalmartWalmart Inc.
WDWarehouse Direct, the reporting unit whereby finished beverages are shipped to retailer warehouses, and then delivered by the retailer through its own delivery system to its stores
WIPWork-in-process

References throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K to "we", "our", "KDP" or "the Company" refer to Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. and all wholly-owned subsidiaries included in our audited Consolidated Financial Statements.

The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our audited Consolidated Financial Statements and the related Notes thereto included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that are based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections about our business and operations. Our actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated and expressed in such forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including the factors described under "Risk Factors" within Item 1A and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and subsequent filings with the SEC.

ii

Part I

Item 1. BUSINESS

OUR COMPANY

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. is a leading beverage company in North America, with a diverse portfolio of flavored (non-cola) CSDs, NCBs, including water (enhanced and flavored), ready-to-drink tea and coffee, juice, juice drinks, mixers and specialty coffee, and is a leading producer of innovative single serve brewing systems. With a wide range of hot and cold beverages that meet virtually any consumer need, KDP key brands include Keurig, Dr Pepper, Canada Dry, Snapple, Bai, Mott's, Core, Green Mountain and The Original Donut Shop. KDP has some of the most recognized beverage brands in North America, with significant consumer awareness levels and long histories that evoke strong emotional connections with consumers. KDP offers more than 125 owned, licensed and partner brands, including the top ten best-selling coffee brands and Dr Pepper as a leading flavored CSD in the U.S. according to IRi, available nearly everywhere people shop and consume beverages.

KDP was created through the combination of the business operations of Keurig, a leading producer of innovative single serve brewing systems and specialty coffee in the U.S. and Canada, and DPS, a company built over time through a series of strategic acquisitions that brought together iconic beverage brands in North America such as Dr Pepper, Snapple, 7UP, Canada Dry, Mott's, A&W and the Peñafiel business in Mexico. The DPS Merger was consummated on July 9, 2018, at which time DPS changed its name to Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. and began trading on the NYSE under the symbol "KDP". Today, we trade on Nasdaq under the symbol KDP, and we are a member of the Nasdaq 100 Index.

OUR STRENGTHS AND STRATEGY

Our scalable business model provides a platform for future growth, focused on:

Strong, balanced portfolio of leading, consumer-preferred brands with proven ability to expand via innovation, renovation and partnerships. We own a diverse portfolio of well-known CSD, coffee and NCB brands. Many of our brands enjoy high levels of consumer awareness, preference and loyalty rooted in their rich heritage. This portfolio provides our retailers, bottlers and distributors, and other customers with a wide variety of products to meet consumers' needs and provides us with a platform for growth and profitability.

We drive growth in our business by a combination of innovating and renovating our portfolio of owned brands and partnerships with other leading beverage brands. We have a robust innovation program, which is designed to meet consumers' changing flavor and beverage preferences and to grow the number of households using our single serve brewers. We have cultivated relationships with leading beverage brands to create long-term partnerships that enable us and our partners to benefit equitably in future value creation, and where appropriate, we bring these partner brands into our owned portfolio through acquisitions. We continually evaluate making investments in companies that fill in whitespace in our portfolio.

Flexible and scalable route-to-market network, with unique e-commerce expertise. We have strategically-located distribution capabilities, which enables us to better align our operations with our customers and our channels, ensure our products are available to meet consumer demand, reduce transportation costs and have greater control over the timing and coordination of new product launches. We actively manage transportation of our products using our fleet (owned and leased) of approximately 6,300 vehicles in the U.S. and 1,700 in Mexico, as well as third party logistics providers.

With our Keurig.com website, we have a leading e-commerce platform which provides us insights and expertise in the e-commerce channel. We have been able to translate those insights and experience into our cold business as the number of fulfillment options that are better suited economically for beverages has evolved, leading to growth in the e-commerce channel.

High-performing team driving better, faster decisions, enabled by technology. We believe that our team and the culture we have created, through the integration of two companies into one, are truly our competitive advantage. When we approach our customers, we do so as one fully combined modern beverage company. This go-to market system is strengthened through sophisticated data and technology. This includes the only point-of-sale consumption data available in the consumer packaged goods industry through our panel of connected brewers, predictive ordering powered by artificial intelligence for our frontline sales team within our DSD system, and best in class revenue growth management tools.

Bold ESG commitments and collaborations making positive impacts. ESG is embedded in the way that we do business at KDP, ensuring that we make a positive impact in our environment and communities.

Highly efficient business model, driving significant cash flow and investments. Our highly efficient business model, both from a cost and a cash perspective, gives us optionality to invest internally and look outside for acquisitions or other options to continue to drive growth and create value.

PRODUCTS AND DISTRIBUTION

We are a leading integrated brand owner, manufacturer, and distributor of non-alcoholic beverages in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. We have a portfolio of brands with the ability to satisfy every consumer need, anytime and anywhere – hot or cold, at home or on-the-go, at work or at play.

The following presents highlights of our major owned and licensed brands as of December 31, 2021:

CategoryMajor BrandsNorth America Market Position
CSDsDr Pepper#1 in its flavor category and #2 overall flavored CSD in the U.S.
Canada Dry#1 ginger ale in the U.S. and Canada
A&W#1 root beer in the U.S.
Squirt#1 grapefruit CSD in the U.S. and a leading grapefruit CSD in Mexico
Peñafiel#1 carbonated mineral water in Mexico
Sunkist soda#1 orange flavored CSD in the U.S.
Schweppes#2 ginger ale in the U.S. and Canada
7UP#2 lemon-lime CSD in the U.S.
Crush#3 orange flavored CSD in the U.S.
NCBsSnapple#2 premium shelf stable ready-to-drink tea in the U.S.
Hawaiian PunchA leading branded shelf-stable fruit punch in the U.S.
Mott's#1 branded multi-serve apple juice and apple sauce in the U.S.
ClamatoA leading spicy tomato juice in the U.S., Canada and Mexico
Bai#3 enhanced water in the U.S.
CoreA rapidly growing water brand in the U.S.
Single Serve CoffeeGreen Mountain#2 K-cup pod brand in the U.S.
The Original Donut Shop#5 K-cup pod brand in the U.S.
McCafé#6 K-cup pod brand in the U.S.
Van Houtte#2 K-cup pod brand in Canada
Single Serve BrewersKeurig#1 single serve brewer in the U.S. and Canada

All information regarding our brand market positions in the U.S. is based on retail market dollars in 2021. U.S. beverage information is from IRi; U.S. brewing system information is from NPD.

In the CSD market in the U.S. and Canada, we participate primarily in the flavored segment of the CSD category. In addition to our major brands above, we also own regional and smaller niche brands, such as Big Red, Sun Drop and Vernors. In the CSD market, we distribute finished beverages and manufacture beverage concentrates and fountain syrups. Our beverage concentrates, which are highly concentrated proprietary flavors used to make syrup or finished beverages, are used by our own Packaged Beverages segment, as well as sold to third party bottling companies through our Beverage Concentrates segment. According to IRi, we had a 24.2% share of the U.S. CSD market in 2021 (measured by retail sales), an increase of 40 bps versus 2020. We also manufacture fountain syrup that we sell to the foodservice industry directly and indirectly through bottlers or through other third parties.

In the NCB market segment in the U.S., we participate primarily in the premium water category, including enhanced and flavored water, ready-to-drink tea, juice, juice drinks, and mixer categories. In addition to our major brands above, we also sell regional and smaller niche brands, such as Nantucket Nectars. We manufacture most of our NCBs as ready-to-drink beverages and distribute them through our own distribution network and through third parties or direct to our customers' warehouses. In addition to NCB beverages, we also manufacture Mott's apple sauce as a finished product.

In Mexico and the Caribbean, we participate primarily in the carbonated mineral water, flavored CSDs, bottled water and vegetable juice categories. In Mexico, we manufacture and sell our brands through both our own manufacturing and distribution operations as well as third party bottlers. In the Caribbean, we distribute our products solely through third party distributors and bottlers. We have also begun to distribute certain products in other international jurisdictions through various third party bottlers and distributors.

Our Keurig single serve brewers are aimed at changing the way consumers prepare and enjoy coffee and other beverages both at home and away from home in places such as offices, restaurants, cafeterias, convenience stores and hotels. We create value by developing and selling our Keurig single serve brewers and by expanding Keurig brewer household adoption, which increased approximately 9% for the year ended December 31, 2021 to nearly 36 million U.S. households, based on third party survey data and our own estimates. Expansion of Keurig system household adoption enables sales of specialty coffee and a variety of other specialty beverages in K-Cup pods (including hot and iced teas, hot cocoa and other beverages) for use with Keurig brewers. We also offer traditional whole bean and ground coffee in other package types, including bags, fractional packages and cans. We, together with our partners, are able to bring consumers high-quality coffee and other beverage experiences from the brands they love, all through the one-touch simplicity and convenience of Keurig brewers. We currently offer a portfolio of more than 125 owned, licensed, partner and private label brands, including the top ten best-selling coffee brands in the U.S. based on IRi.

PRODUCT AND PACKAGE INNOVATION

We are focused on a robust innovation pipeline within our portfolio of products to build household penetration of our business. We regularly launch new brewers with new features and benefits, technological advances, sustainable attributes, and changes in aesthetics to provide a variety of options to suit individual consumer preferences. We also continuously innovate and renovate our portfolio of K-cup pods, CSDs and NCBs to provide an expansive array of flavors.

During 2021, we launched our Keurig Supreme Plus Smart brewer, which incorporates our new BrewID technology platform. BrewID creates value through consumer connectivity in our brewers by recognizing the specific K-cup pod brand and roast to automatically customize brew settings, tracking K-cup pod usage to enable automatic reordering, and recommending future purchases and trials based on consumer preferences. Additionally, the Keurig mobile app provides enhanced control over temperature, strength, and beverage size. We also designed and launched easy-peel K-Cup pod lids with a tab to make it simpler to recycle.

Within our NCB portfolio, in 2021, we completed the transition of our Core brand and select packaging sizes of our Snapple and Aguafiel brands to bottles made with 100% rPET. We expanded our Bai portfolio to include Bai Boost, a line of beverages with plant-based energy providing 110 mg of caffeine, in three flavors: Buka Black Raspberry, Togo Tangerine Citrus, and Watamu Strawberry Watermelon. We also launched the Mott’s Mighty collection in both the juice and applesauce categories. Mott’s Mighty juices are made with vitamins A, C and E to help support a healthy immune system and 50% less sugar, and Mott’s Mighty applesauces are made with no added sugars and added fiber to help support healthy digestive systems. In our CSD portfolio, we expanded our Zero Sugar collection to include 7UP, Sunkist and A&W.

OUR BUSINESS OPERATIONS

As of December 31, 2021, our operating structure consists of four reportable segments: Coffee Systems, Packaged Beverages, Beverage Concentrates, and Latin America Beverages. Segment financial data, including financial information about foreign and domestic operations, is included in Note 9 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Coffee Systems

Our Coffee Systems segment is primarily a producer of innovative single serve brewers and specialty coffee in the U.S. and Canada.

Our Coffee Systems segment manufactures over 80% of the pods in the single-serve K-Cup pod format in the U.S., on a dollar share basis. We manufacture and sell 100% of the K-Cup pods of the following brands to retailers, away from home channel participants and end-use consumers: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, The Original Donut Shop, McCafé, Laughing Man, REVV, and Van Houtte.

We manufacture and sell K-Cup pods for the following brands to our partners, who in turn sell them to retailers: Starbucks, Dunkin', Folgers, Peet's, Newman’s Own Organics, Caribou Coffee, Eight O’Clock, Maxwell House, and Tim Hortons, as well as private label arrangements. Generally, we are able to sell these brands to our away from home channel participants and end-use consumers. We also have agreements for manufacturing, distributing, and selling K-Cup pods for tea under brands such as Celestial Seasonings, Lipton and Tazo in addition to K-Cup pods of our own brand, Snapple. We also produce and sell K-Cup pods for cocoa, including through a licensing agreement for the Swiss Miss brand, and hot apple cider, including under our own brand, Mott's.

Our Coffee Systems segment manufactures its K-Cup pods in facilities in North America that include specialty designed proprietary high-speed packaging lines using freshly roasted and ground coffee as well as tea, cocoa and other products. We offer high-quality, responsibly sourced coffee including certified single-origin, organic, flavored, limited edition and proprietary blends. We carefully select our coffee beans and appropriately roast the coffees to optimize their taste and flavor differences. We engineer and design most of our single serve brewers, where we then utilize third-party contract manufacturers located in various countries in Asia for brewer appliance manufacturing. We distribute our brewers using third-party distributors, retail partners and through our website at www.keurig.com.

In 2021, Walmart and Costco were the Coffee Systems segment's largest customers. The loss of one of those customers could have a material adverse effect on the Coffee Systems segment.

Beverage Concentrates

Our Beverage Concentrates segment is principally a brand ownership business where we manufacture and sell beverage concentrates and syrups in the U.S. and Canada. Most of the brands in this segment are CSD brands. Key brands include Dr Pepper, Canada Dry, Schweppes, Crush, Sunkist, A&W, SunDrop, 7UP, Squirt, Big Red, Hawaiian Punch and RC Cola.

Beverage concentrates are shipped to third party bottlers, as well as to our own manufacturing systems, who combine them with carbonation, water, sweeteners and other ingredients, package the combined product in aluminum cans, PET bottles, and glass bottles, and sell them as a packaged beverage to retailers and, ultimately, the end consumer. Beverage concentrates are also manufactured into syrup, which is shipped to fountain customers, such as fast food restaurants, who mix the syrup with water and carbonation to create a finished beverage at the point of sale to consumers. Dr Pepper represents most of our fountain channel volume.

Our Beverage Concentrates brands are sold by our bottlers through all major retail channels. As our Beverage Concentrates business is reliant upon a small number of customers, the loss of any of our bottlers in this segment could have a material adverse effect on the segment.

Packaged Beverages

Our Packaged Beverages segment is a manufacturing and distribution business of both NCBs and CSDs, as well as a brand ownership business, focused primarily on NCB brands. In this segment, we primarily manufacture and distribute packaged beverages of our brands to retailers and, ultimately, the end consumer. Additionally, in order to maximize the size and scale of our manufacturing and distribution operations, we also distribute packaged beverages for our partner brands and manufacture packaged beverages for other third parties in the U.S. and Canada.

The larger CSD brands in this segment include Dr Pepper, Canada Dry, A&W, 7UP, Sunkist, Squirt, Big Red, RC Cola, and Vernors. The larger NCB brands in this segment include Snapple, Mott's, Bai, Hawaiian Punch, Clamato, Yoo-Hoo, Core, ReaLemon, evian, Vita Coco and Mr and Mrs T mixers.

The majority of our Packaged Beverages net sales come from the manufacturing and distribution of our own brands and the contract manufacturing of certain private label and emerging brand beverages. We also recognize net sales in this segment from the distribution of our partner brands such as evian, Vita Coco, Polar Beverages seltzer water, A Shoc energy drinks, Peet's RTD coffee and Runa energy drinks. We provide a route-to-market for our partner brands seeking effective distribution for their new and emerging brands. These brands give us exposure in certain markets to fast growing segments of the beverage industry with minimal capital investment.

We sell our Packaged Beverages products through our DSD and our WD systems, both of which include sales to all major retail channels.

In 2021, Walmart was the Packaged Beverages segment's largest customer. The loss of this customer could have a material adverse effect on the Packaged Beverages segment.

Latin America Beverages

Our Latin America Beverages segment is a brand ownership, manufacturing and distribution business, with operations in Mexico representing approximately 90% of the segment's net sales. This segment participates mainly in the carbonated mineral water, flavored CSD, bottled water and vegetable juice categories. The largest brands include Peñafiel, Clamato, Squirt, Mott's, Dr Pepper, Crush and Aguafiel.

In 2021, Walmart was the Latin America Beverages segment's largest customer. The loss of this customer could have a material adverse effect on the Latin America Beverages segment.

OUR CUSTOMERS

We primarily serve the following types of customers:

Retailers

Retailers include supermarkets, hypermarkets, mass merchandisers, club stores, e-commerce retailers, office superstores, vending machines, fountains, grocery and drug stores, convenience stores and other small outlets. Retailers purchase finished beverages, K-Cup pods, appliances and accessories directly from us. Our portfolio of strong brands, operational scale and experience in the beverage industry has enabled us to maintain strong relationships with major retailers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. In 2021, our largest retailer was Walmart, representing approximately 16% of our consolidated net sales.

Bottlers and Distributors

In the U.S. and Canada, we generally grant perpetual, exclusive licenses for CSD brands and packages to bottlers for specific geographic areas. These bottlers may be affiliated with Coca-Cola, with PepsiCo, or may be independent. These agreements prohibit bottlers and distributors from selling the licensed products outside their exclusive territory and selling any imitative products in that territory. Generally, we may terminate bottling and distribution agreements only for cause, change in control or breach of agreements and the bottler or distributor may terminate without cause upon giving certain specified notice and complying with other applicable conditions. Fountain agreements for bottlers generally are not exclusive for a territory, but do restrict bottlers from carrying imitative product in the territory.

Certain NCB brands, such as Snapple, Bai, Core, Yoo-Hoo, Mistic and Nantucket Nectars are licensed for distribution in various territories to bottlers and a number of smaller distributors such as beer wholesalers, wine and spirit distributors, independent distributors and retail brokers.

Partners

We have differentiated ourselves and the Keurig brand through our ability to create and sustain partnerships with other leading coffee, tea and beverage brand companies through multi-year licensing and manufacturing agreements that best suit each brand's interests and strengths. Typically, we manufacture pods on behalf of our partners, who in turn sell them to retailers.

As of December 31, 2021, our partner brands included, but were not limited to, Starbucks, Kirkland Signature, Dunkin', Great Value, Peet's, Caribou Coffee, Eight O’Clock, Folgers, Newman’s Own Organics, McCafé, Maxwell House, Kroger, Krispy Kreme, Celestial Seasonings, Lipton, Tazo, Panera, and Tim Hortons.

Away from Home Channel Participants

We distribute brewers, accessories and K-Cup pods (owned, licensed, and partner brands) to away from home channel participants, which include restaurants, hotel chains, and office coffee distributors.

End-use Consumers

We have a robust e-commerce platform at www.keurig.com where end-use consumers can purchase brewers, accessories, K-Cup pods and other coffee products such as bagged traditional coffee and cold brew.

OUR COMPETITORS

The beverage industry is highly competitive and continues to evolve in response to changing consumer preferences. Competition is generally based on brand recognition, taste, quality, price, availability, selection and convenience, as well as factors related to corporate responsibility and sustainability. We compete with multinational corporations with significant financial resources. In our bottling and manufacturing operations, we also compete with a number of smaller bottlers and distributors and a variety of smaller, regional and private label manufacturers.

The following represents a list of our major competitors:

CompetitorCategories
Coca-ColaCSDs, NCBs, Coffee
The J.M. Smucker CompanyPackaged Coffee
The Kraft Heinz CompanyPackaged Coffee
Nestlé S.A.NCBs, Packaged Coffee, Single-serve brewers
PepsiCoCSDs, NCBs, Coffee

Although these companies offer competing brands in categories we participate in, they are also our partners and customers, as they purchase beverage concentrates or K-Cup pods directly from us.

OUR MATERIAL RESOURCES

Our Raw Materials

The principal raw materials we use in our business, which we commonly refer to as ingredients and materials, approximate 59% of our cost of sales and include green coffee, PET bottles and caps, including both virgin and rPET, aluminum cans and ends, sweeteners, paper products, K-Cup pod packaging materials, fruit, glass bottles and enclosures, juices, teas, water, and other ingredients. We also use post-consumer recycled materials in the manufacturing of our single serve brewers. The availability, quality and costs of many of these materials have fluctuated, and may continue to fluctuate, over time.

When appropriate, we mitigate the exposure to volatility in the prices of certain commodities used in our production process and transportation to our customers through the use of various commodity derivative contracts or supplier pricing agreements. The intent of the contracts and agreements is to provide a certain level of predictability in our operating margins and our overall cost structure, while remaining in what we believe to be a competitive cost position.

Ingredients and materials, excluding green coffee. Under many of our supply arrangements for these raw materials, the price we pay fluctuates along with certain changes in underlying commodities costs, such as aluminum in the case of cans and ends, natural gas in the case of glass bottles, resin in the case of pods, PET bottles and caps, corn in the case of sweeteners and pulp in the case of paperboard packaging.

Green coffee. We purchase green coffee through outside brokers. We also develop and pursue direct relationships with farms, estates, cooperatives, and cooperative groups in order to support our broader traceability and sustainable supply chain initiatives. During 2021, nearly 100% of our delivered purchases of green coffee were responsibly sourced through third party sourcing programs, with the remaining purchased as conventional coffee due to increased demand and COVID-19-related impacts. Responsibly sourced means the coffee we purchase is grown and sold in adherence to a credible sourcing program that aligns with our Supplier Code of Conduct.

Energy costs. In addition to ingredients and packaging costs, we are significantly impacted by changes in fuel costs, which can also fluctuate substantially, due to the large truck fleet we operate in our distribution operations and the energy costs consumed in the production process. The fuel costs associated with our distribution operations are reflected within our SG&A expenses.

Our Intellectual Property

Trademarks and Patents

We possess a variety of intellectual property rights that are important to our business. We rely on a combination of trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets to safeguard our proprietary rights, including our brands, our technologies, and ingredient and production formulas for our products.

We own numerous trademarks in our portfolio within the U.S., Canada, Mexico and other countries. Depending upon the jurisdiction, trademarks are valid as long as they are in use and/or their registrations are properly maintained.

In many countries outside the U.S., Canada and Mexico, the manufacturing and distribution rights to many of our CSD brands, including our Dr Pepper trademark and formula, are owned by third parties including, in certain cases, competitors such as Coca-Cola.

We hold U.S. and international patents related to Keurig brewers and K-Cup pod technology. Of these, a majority are utility patents and the remainder are design patents. We view these patents as valuable assets but we do not view any single patent as critical to our success. We also have pending patent applications associated with Keurig brewers and K-Cup pod technology. We take steps that we believe are appropriate to protect such innovation.

Licensing Arrangements

We license various trade names from our partners in order to manufacture K-Cup pods. Although these licenses vary in length and other terms, they generally are long-term, cover the entire U.S. and/or Canada and generally include an upfront payment to the partner in order to use their trade names to manufacture and/or distribute the K-Cup pods.

For CSDs and NCBs, we license various trademarks from third parties, which generally allow us to manufacture and distribute certain products or brands throughout the U.S. and/or Canada and Mexico. For example, we license trademarks for Sunkist soda, Stewart's, Rose's and Margaritaville from third parties. Although these licenses vary in length and other terms, they generally are long-term, cover the entire U.S. and/or Canada and Mexico and generally include a royalty payment to the licensor.

For CSDs and NCBs in emerging and fast growing categories where we may not currently have a brand presence, we license various trademarks from third party partners, which generally allow us to manufacture and distribute certain products or brands throughout the U.S., Canada or Mexico. These partners view us as a distributor with strong route-to-market resources to grow their brands. Although these licenses vary in length and other terms, they generally are long-term, cover the entire U.S. and/or Canada and Mexico, and generally require a payment from the partner if the licensing agreement is terminated. In some instances, we make investments in these companies, which may include a path to acquire the company after a period of time based on a pre-determined formula. As of December 31, 2021, our portfolio of partner brands included, but was not limited to, Vita Coco coconut water, evian water, Polar Beverages seltzer water, A Shoc energy drinks, Peet's RTD Coffee, Runa energy drinks, and Don't Quit nutrition shakes.

OUR HUMAN CAPITAL RESOURCES

Our Employees

We have nearly 27,500 employees, primarily located in North America. In the U.S., we have approximately 21,500 employees, of which approximately 4,500 employees are covered by union collective bargaining agreements. In Mexico, we have approximately 4,500 employees, of which approximately 3,000 are covered by union collective bargaining agreements. In Canada, we have approximately 1,500 employees, with approximately 500 covered by union collective bargaining agreements. We also have a small number of employees in Europe and Asia.

Our collective bargaining agreements generally address working conditions, as well as wage rates and benefits, and expire over varying terms over the next several years. We generally believe that these agreements can be renegotiated on terms satisfactory to us as they expire and that we have good relationships with our employees and their representative organizations.

Our compensation programs are designed to ensure that we attract and retain the right talent. We generally review and consider median market pay levels when assessing total compensation, but pay decisions are based on a more comprehensive set of considerations such as company performance, individual performance, experience, and internal equity. We continually monitor key talent metrics including employee engagement and employee turnover. Due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy and workforce, we have been experiencing higher employee turnover than in the past, particularly in our frontline workforce.

Our employee benefits programs strive to deliver competitive benefits that are effective in attracting and retaining talent, that create a culture of well-being and inclusiveness, and that meet the diverse needs of our employees. Our total package of benefits is designed to support the physical, mental, and financial health of our employees, and we currently provide access to medical, dental, vision, life insurance and retirement benefits, as well as disability benefits, and assistance with major life activities such as adoption, childbirth, and eldercare, among other benefits.

Our Culture

Together with our employees, we created a set of core values that are a unifying force for our team and are the cornerstone of KDP's culture. These core values are:

  • Team First. Win together. Be the kind of person you want on your team.

  • Deliver Big. Achieve our commitments. Then push beyond the expected.

  • Think Bold. Challenge the usual. Dare to try something new.

  • Be Fearless and Fair. Tell the truth with courage. Listen and act with respect.

Additionally, we have adopted a corporate code of conduct that applies to all of our employees, officers and our Board, which lays the foundation for ethical behavior for our team. Our code of conduct is available on our website at http://www.keurigdrpepper.com.

Diversity and Inclusion

In 2020, we began to focus on accelerating our work in the area of diversity and inclusion, and we made significant progress, despite the pandemic. We approached this effort as we approach critical business priorities, using our playbook from integration and transformation initiatives. As part of this process, we established executive-level governance, including participation by our Chairman and CEO, as well as a Diversity and Inclusion leadership team, comprised of committed leaders from across KDP to help set priorities and lead two-way dialogue throughout the organization, and launched eight Employee Resource Groups, among other initiatives.

Based on our work thus far, in 2021 we set two new goals for KDP in the area of diversity and inclusion. Our first goal is to increase female representation in positions at and above the “director” management level, also known as “Director +”, by 25% by 2025; in 2020, our baseline year, women represented 26% of our Director + workforce. Our second goal is to increase people of color representation in our Director + workforce by 25% by 2025; in 2020, people of color represented 17% of our Director + workforce.

During 2021, we rolled out an extensive diversity and inclusion training program across all employees except for frontline hourly employees, which provides weekly engagement in an online content platform and regular opportunities to apply, practice and reinforce the learnings from the program over the course of several months. In 2022, the concepts from the program will be shared through trainings and meetings designed to embed these concepts in the culture of our hourly frontline employees.

Global Employee Snapshot as of December 31, 2021

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U.S. Employee Snapshot as of December 31, 2021

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Employee Health and Safety

KDP uses a wide variety of strategies and programs to support the health and safety of our employees. From training on risks from non-routine tasks, such as unexpected maintenance on equipment, to installing automated systems to prevent trailers from shifting during loading and unloading, our Environmental Health & Safety team considers all aspects of what our employees may encounter and works to minimize risk. Key to these efforts are data and preventive actions. KDP measures Lost Time Incident Rate, a reliable indication of Total Recordable Injuries Rate severity, and uses a risk reduction process that thoroughly analyzes injuries and near misses.

Our Response to COVID-19

During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have taken extraordinary measures to protect the safety and well-being of our employees. These measures include enhanced and comprehensive sanitation, physical distancing, and health protocols; directing most of our office employees to work from home, leveraging technology and collaboration tools; providing enhanced paid sick time, along with back-up childcare assistance, as needed; and provided temporary financial incentives to our frontline employees, who are working selflessly to manufacture, distribute and stock store shelves with the essential goods our communities need.

SEASONALITY OF OUR BUSINESS

The beverage market is subject to some seasonal variations. Our cold beverage sales are generally higher during the warmer months, while hot beverage sales are generally higher during the cooler months. Overall beverage sales can also be influenced by the timing of holidays and weather fluctuations. Sales of brewers and related accessories are generally higher during the second half of the year due to the holiday shopping season.

GOVERNMENTAL REGULATIONS ON OUR BUSINESS

In the normal course of our business, we are subject to a variety of federal, state and local laws and regulations in the countries in which we do business. Regulations apply to many aspects of our business, including our products and their ingredients, manufacturing, safety, labeling, transportation, recycling, advertising and sale. For example, our products and their manufacturing, labeling, marketing and sale in the U.S. are subject to various aspects of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Lanham Act, state consumer protection laws and state warning and labeling laws, such as Proposition 65. Certain cities and municipalities within the U.S. have also passed various taxes on the distribution of sugar-sweetened and diet beverages, which are at different stages of enactment. In Canada, Mexico and the European Union, the manufacturing, distribution, marketing and sale of many of our products are also subject to similar statutes and regulations.

Various states, provinces and other authorities require deposits, eco-taxes, extended producer responsibility laws, or fees on certain products or packaging. Similar legislation or regulations may be proposed in the future at local, state and federal levels, both in the U.S. and elsewhere. In Mexico, the government has encouraged the beverage industry to comply voluntarily with collection and recycling programs for plastic materials, and we are in compliance with these programs.

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

In all we do, we are committed to acting responsibly, and our ambition is to ensure our beverages make a positive impact with every drink. Drink Well. Do Good. is our corporate responsibility platform. Under this platform, we focus on our greatest opportunities for impact in our supply chain, the environment, our communities, and on the health and well-being of our consumers. We are committed to transparency and disclosure of corporate responsibility strategies, programs, progress and governance.

In 2021, Newsweek named us to their 2022 America’s Most Responsible Companies list, and we were the top beverage company in their rankings. Additionally, in 2021, we were awarded the 2021 Reuters Responsible Business award in the Social and Human Capital category.

Please refer to our Corporate Responsibility Report, available on our website at www.keurigdrpepper.com. Select highlights from the report are discussed below.

Environment

Product Design and Circular Economy

Sustainable packaging is a top priority for us, and we continue to innovate for circular solutions across our portfolio. We have set a goal to make 100% of our packaging from recyclable or compostable material by 2025. We also want to further contribute to the circular economy with our commitment to use an average of 30% recycled material across our packaging portfolio by 2025. In 2021, we completed the transition of our Core brand and select packaging sizes of our Snapple and Aguafiel brands to bottles made with 100% rPET, and we are in the process of transitioning additional products to rPET. We also designed and launched easy-peel K-Cup pod lids with a tab to make it simpler to recycle.

Already, the majority of our packaging is made from materials that can be recycled, and we are ensuring that our packaging materials are optimally designed to be among the highest value possible for recycled plastic buyers, which will increasingly include us. To reduce contamination in the recycling stream, we are continuing to replace dark-colored PET with PET that is preferred for recycling systems, making our bottles, labels and caps compatible with widely-used bottle recycling processes, and supporting consumer education campaigns on how to "recycle right". We have also partnered with the American Beverage Association and other beverage industry leaders on the Every Bottle Back initiative*,* a breakthrough effort to help facilitate our objectives to reduce our industry’s use of new plastic and increase the recycling and reuse of our PET bottles. The initiative includes a $100 million industry-backed fund to invest in improved sorting, processing and collection efforts to directly support the increase in quality and availability of recycled plastic across the country.

In 2020, we achieved our goal of making all of our K-Cup pods sold in the U.S. and Canada from recyclable materials. The K-Cup pods are made of polypropylene #5 plastic, and we continue to engage with municipalities and recycling facilities to advance the quantity and quality of recycled polypropylene. To that end, KDP is a cofounder and the largest funder of the Polypropylene Recycling Coalition, an effort led by The Recycling Partnership to advance polypropylene recycling in the U.S. KDP invested $10 million in the coalition and is joined by leading brands, recyclers, retailers, converters and producers of polypropylene, all of whom have also provided funding to the coalition.

Improving packaging solutions for product quality, consumer use, recoverability and reuse requires collaboration of all parties along the value chain. Using our strength in forming partnerships, we collaborate closely with a number of stakeholders, including industry groups, non-governmental organizations and investment firms, to move our commitments beyond independent ambitions to collective action.

Sustainable Facilities

As we invest in infrastructure, we have focused on sustainably built facilities. Our new K-cup pod manufacturing site in Spartanburg, South Carolina, is the largest industrial manufacturing facility certified under the LEEDv4 BD+C rating system in North America, and it includes a separation room that moves all waste from production to be recycled, reused, repurposed or converted to energy. Additionally, our new high-speed cold beverage production facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania, incorporates sustainability focused design, including a central room with magnetic bearing chillers that provide cooling for air conditioning as well as chilled water for production processes, a highly energy-efficient approach. Our new Frisco, Texas headquarters location is LEED v4 ID+C Gold certified, and our Newbridge, Ireland manufacturing facility is focused on renewable energy sources, with 100% of its energy provided by wind in 2021.

Climate Change

KDP is working to address climate change and build the resilience of our business and supply chain. In 2019, we laid the groundwork for important climate targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from a 2018 baseline. This foundation included a corporate policy, governance structures and greater transparency. Our targets have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative and are in line with the reductions that are required to meet the Paris Agreement on climate change goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius. Our climate goals provide a path for us to reduce our share of greenhouse gas emissions through continuation of existing efforts and the development of new focus areas, such as packaging improvements and value chain engagement. We report non-financial data annually on our climate efforts to CDP Climate.

Water Stewardship

Water is a precious natural resource that is essential to our business. As water is the primary ingredient in most of our beverages, we have a particular responsibility to be good stewards of water use in our operations, our communities and throughout our supply chain. Our water stewardship goals are focused on safeguarding water resources and building healthy communities resilient to climate change.

We conduct periodic water risk assessments of our operations and supply chain. To refine our understanding of challenges for our high water-risk sites, we assess each site in the context of the surrounding watershed, the local water issues and other local entities’ interest and perspective on those issues. We have public goals and programs to both increase operational efficiency and to replenish water through conservation and restoration projects with conservation organizations in communities where we operate that have high water risk. We report non-financial data annually on our water stewardship efforts to CDP Water.

Supply Chain

We engage our suppliers, farmers and business partners to ensure sustainable practices are used across our supply chain. Having achieved our previous goal of responsibly sourcing 100% of our coffee by 2020, we have now extended that goal to include cocoa and will look to add additional priority crops over time. We continue working towards our goal of 100% responsibly sourced brewers. From 2021, we are also building out new programs focused on supporting regenerative agriculture in our coffee, corn and apple supply chains, as well as advancing inclusion and improving livelihoods for the people in KDP’s upstream supply chain. Our participation in the Business for Inclusive Growth (B4IG) coalition continues to inform our efforts around an inclusive sourcing approach for KDP.

Health and Well-Being

We are committed to providing a balanced portfolio of beverage options and the resources consumers need to make informed choices for positive hydration, including an expansion of our product offerings that deliver nutritional and functional benefits, as well as reducing sugar and calories. We have dramatically transformed our portfolio over the past decade, offering a low- or no-calorie option for virtually every full-calorie brand in our portfolio, and we have also added smaller portion-size offerings.

We are collaborating with Partnership for a Healthier America, which is a national nonprofit working to transform the food landscape in pursuit of health equity in the U.S. Our approach to product development and marketing is rooted in what our diverse universe of consumers want from their beverage occasion. We are committed to advertising our products in a responsible and truthful manner, aligned with the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, and our beverage containers include voluntary product transparency with front-of-pack calorie labeling. We continue to work on industry solutions through our work with the Balance Calories Initiative, managed by the American Beverage Association. The Balance Calories Initiative is the single-largest voluntary effort by an industry to help fight obesity.

OTHER INFORMATION

Our website address is www.keurigdrpepper.com. Information on our website is not incorporated by reference in this document. We make available, free of charge through this website, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC.

MARKET AND INDUSTRY DATA

The market and industry data in this Annual Report on Form 10-K is from IRi, an independent industry source, and is based on retail dollar sales and sales volumes in 2021. Although we believe that this independent source is reliable, we have not verified the accuracy or completeness of this data or any assumptions underlying such data. IRi is a marketing information provider, primarily serving consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers. We use IRi data as our primary management tool to track market performance because it has broad and deep data coverage, is based on consumer transactions at retailers, and is reported to us monthly. IRi data provides measurement and analysis of marketplace trends such as market share, retail pricing, promotional activity and distribution across various channels, retailers and geographies. Measured categories provided to us by IRi include K-Cup pods, CSDs, including energy drinks and carbonated waters, and NCBs, including ready-to-drink teas and coffee, single-serve and multi-serve juice and juice drinks, sports drinks, still waters and non-alcoholic mixers. IRi also provides data on other food items such as apple sauce. IRi data we present in this report is from IRi service, which compiles data based on scanner transactions in key retail channels, including grocery stores, mass merchandisers (including Walmart), club stores (excluding Costco), drug chains, convenience stores and gas stations. However, this data does not include the fountain or vending channels, or small independent retail outlets, which together represent a meaningful portion of the U.S. beverage market. This data does not include certain customers and e-commerce sales which represents a significant portion of our Coffee Systems segment.

Our market share data for our brewers is based on information provided by NPD. NPD data is based upon Consumer Panel Track SM (consumer-reported sales) calibrated with selected retailers' point of sale data, based on NPD's definition of the coffeemaker category. The data presented is based upon The NPD/Consumer Tracking Service for Coffeemakers in the U.S. and represents the twelve month period ended December 31, 2021.

Item 1A. RISK FACTORS

RISKS RELATED TO OUR OPERATIONS

Widespread health developments and economic uncertainty resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business has been, and may continue to be, adversely impacted by the response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in countries where we operate or our customers and suppliers are located, due to recommendations or mandates from governmental and local authorities to require vaccinations, close businesses, limit travel, avoid large gatherings or self-quarantine, as well as temporary closures or decreased operations of the facilities of our customers, distributors or suppliers. These impacts include, but are not limited to:

  • Significant reductions in demand or significant volatility in demand for one or more of our products, as a result of, among other things: the temporary inability of consumers to purchase our products due to illness, quarantine or other restrictions, store closures, or financial hardship, shifts in demand away from one or more of our higher priced products to lower priced products, or stockpiling or similar activity, reduced options for marketing and promotion of products or other restrictions in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic; such impacts could further increase the difficulty of operating our business during the pandemic, including accurately planning and forecasting customer demand;

  • Inability to meet our consumers' and customers’ needs and achieve cost targets due to disruptions in our manufacturing and supply arrangements such as the loss or disruption of essential raw materials or purchased finished goods, disruption of logistics, reduction or loss of workforce due to the insufficiency or failure of our safety protocols, or disruption of other manufacturing and distribution capability;

  • Failure of third parties, including those located in international locations, on which we rely, including our suppliers, bottlers, distributors, contract manufacturers, third-party service providers, contractors, commercial banks and external business partners, to meet their obligations to us or to timely meet those obligations, or significant disruptions in their ability to do so, which may be caused by their own financial or operational difficulties; or

  • Significant changes in the conditions in markets in which we manufacture, sell or distribute our products, including quarantines, governmental or regulatory actions, closures or other restrictions that limit or close our operating and manufacturing facilities, restrict our employees’ ability to perform necessary business functions, restrict or prevent consumers from having access to our products, or otherwise prevent our third-party bottlers, distributors, partners, suppliers, or customers from sufficiently staffing operations, including operations necessary for the production, distribution, sale, and support of our products.

All of these impacts could place limitations on our ability to execute on our business plan and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. We continue to monitor the situation, have actively implemented policies and procedures to address the situation, and as the pandemic continues to further unfold, we may adjust our current policies and procedures as regulations or governmental orders are implemented or more information and guidance become available. The impact of COVID-19 may also exacerbate other risks discussed herein, any of which could have a material effect on us. As this situation continues to evolve, new risks or uncertainties may arise that we are not aware of currently.

Costs and supply for inputs to our products, including raw materials and transportation, may change substantially and shortages have occurred and may continue to occur.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its resulting impacts on the global economy, particularly supply chain constraints and labor shortages, have led to inflation in input costs, logistics, manufacturing and labor costs. We have experienced supply chain disruptions and significant inflation, which have impacted our results of operations in the current year and may continue to do so in the future.

Our raw materials are sourced from industries characterized by a limited supply base, and their cost can fluctuate substantially. Under many of our supply arrangements, the price we pay for raw materials fluctuates along with certain changes in underlying commodities costs. Price increases for our raw materials have placed pressure on our costs and could continue to do so, and we may not be able to effectively hedge or pass along any such increases to our customers or consumers. Furthermore, any price increases passed along to our customers or consumers could significantly reduce demand for our products and could negatively affect our business and financial performance. In addition, price decreases in commodities that we have effectively hedged could also increase our cost of goods sold for mark-to-market changes in the derivative instruments.

Our principal raw materials in our coffee business include coffee beans and K-Cup pod raw materials (including cups, filter paper and other ingredients) used in the manufacturing of our K-Cup pods. We purchase, roast and sell high-quality whole bean coffee and related coffee products. The quality of the coffee we seek tends to trade on a negotiated basis at a premium above the “C” price of coffee. This premium depends upon the supply and demand at the time of purchase, and the amount of the premium can vary significantly. Increases in the “C” coffee commodity price increase the price of high-quality coffee and also impact our ability to enter into fixed-price purchase commitments. We frequently enter into supply contracts whereby the quality, quantity, delivery period and other negotiated terms are agreed upon, but the date, and therefore price, at which the base “C” coffee commodity price component will be fixed has not yet been established. These are known as price-to-be-fixed contracts.

The supply and price of crops we purchase, such as coffee, apples, and corn, can also be affected by multiple factors in the producing countries, including weather, natural disasters, crop disease (such as coffee rust), general cost increases in farm inputs and costs of production, inventory levels and political and economic conditions, as well as the actions of certain organizations and associations that have historically attempted to influence prices of various commodities through agreements establishing export quotas or by restricting supplies.

Speculative trading in commodities, such as coffee, has and may continue to influence prices. If we are unable to purchase sufficient quantities of our commodities due to any of the factors described herein or a worldwide or regional shortage, we may not be able to fulfill the demand for our products, which could have an adverse impact on our business and financial results.

We also have a limited number of suppliers for certain strategic raw materials critical to our operations. We may have limited leverage to negotiate with these suppliers, which could negatively affect our operations and the financial performance of our business. In addition, in order to ensure a continuous supply of high-quality raw materials, some of our inventory purchase obligations include long-term purchase commitments for certain strategic raw materials. The timing of these may not always coincide with the period in which we need the supplies to fulfill customer demand. This could lead to higher and more variable inventory levels and/or higher raw material costs for us.

If our suppliers are unable or unwilling to meet our requirements, we could suffer shortages or substantial cost increases. Changing suppliers can require long lead times. The failure of our suppliers to meet our

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Item 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

Item 2. PROPERTIES

We have two corporate headquarters, located in Burlington, Massachusetts and Frisco, Texas, both of which are leased.

The following table summarizes our principal manufacturing plants and principal warehouse and distribution facilities by geography and reportable segment as of December 31, 2021:

Beverage ConcentratesPackaged BeveragesLatin America BeveragesCoffee SystemsTotal
OwnedLeasedOwnedLeasedOwnedLeasedOwnedLeasedOwnedLeased
United States
Production facilities1—611——24915
Warehouse and distribution facilities——2756———52761
International
Production facilities1———3—1151
Warehouse and distribution facilities————530—34564
Total2—336783034446141

We believe our facilities are well-maintained and adequate, that they are being appropriately utilized and that they have sufficient production capacity for their present intended purposes. The extent of utilization of such facilities varies based on seasonal demand for our products. It is not possible to measure with any degree of certainty or uniformity the productive capacity and extent of utilization of these facilities. We periodically review our space requirements, and we look to consolidate and dispose or sublet facilities we no longer need as appropriate.

Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are occasionally subject to litigation or other legal proceedings relating to our business. Refer to Note 18 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements related to commitments and contingencies, which is incorporated herein by reference.

BODYARMOR LITIGATION

On March 6, 2019, ABC, a subsidiary of KDP, filed suit against BodyArmor and Mike Repole in the Superior Court for the State of Delaware. The complaint asserted claims for breach of contract and promissory estoppel against BodyArmor and asserted a claim for tortious interference against Mr. Repole, in each case in connection with BodyArmor's attempted early termination of the distribution contract between BodyArmor and ABC. The complaint sought monetary damages relating to lost distribution revenues, disgorgement of profits, liquidated and punitive damages, attorneys' fees and costs. ABC filed an amended complaint which added Coca-Cola as a defendant to the suit and asserted a claim for tortious interference against Coca-Cola. In December 2020, the court dismissed the individual claim against Mr. Repole, but ABC's claims against BodyArmor and Coca-Cola continued. In December 2021, the Court granted summary judgment to ABC on its breach of contract claim against BodyArmor, finding, as a matter of law, that BodyArmor’s termination constituted a breach of the distribution agreement.

In January 2022, KDP agreed to a $350 million payment from BodyArmor for a full settlement of all of the claims under the existing litigation against BodyArmor and in complete satisfaction of the holdback amount owed to ABC in association with the sale of ABC’s equity interest in BodyArmor in 2021. ABC received the settlement payment in January 2022 and the lawsuit has been dismissed. Refer to Note 21 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for further information.

Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

Not applicable.

PART II

Item 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Effective September 21, 2020, our common stock was listed and began trading on Nasdaq's Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "KDP". From July 9, 2018, through September 18, 2020, our common stock was listed and traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "KDP". Prior to the closing of the DPS Merger, our common stock was listed and traded on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "DPS".

As of December 31, 2021, there were 9,769 stockholders of record of our common stock.

KDP's Board has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend and expects to continue to pay such dividends on a quarterly basis.

ISSUER REPURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

On October 1, 2021, our Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program of up to $4 billion of our outstanding common stock, potentially enabling us to return value to shareholders. The $4 billion authorization is effective for four years, beginning on January 1, 2022 and expiring on December 31, 2025, and does not require the purchase of any minimum number of shares. There were no share repurchase programs in effect during the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

COMPARISON OF TOTAL STOCKHOLDER RETURN

The following performance graph compares the cumulative total returns of DPS through July 9, 2018 and KDP from July 10, 2018 through December 31, 2021 with the cumulative total returns of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P Food and Beverage Select Industry Index. We believe that these indices convey an accurate assessment of our performance as compared to the industry.

The graph assumes that $100 was invested on December 31, 2016, with dividends reinvested quarterly. The graph additionally assumes that a special cash dividend of $103.75 which was declared and paid as a result of the DPS Merger was reinvested in KDP once shares resumed trading on July 10, 2018.

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Item 6. [Reserved]

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

This section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K generally discusses the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 and year-over-year comparisons between the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020. Discussions of the periods prior to the year ended December 31, 2020 that are not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and the discussion therein for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the year ended December 31, 2019 is incorporated by reference into this Annual Report.

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains the names of some of our owned or licensed trademarks, trade names and service marks, which we refer to as our brands. All of the product names included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are either our registered trademarks or those of our licensors.

OVERVIEW

KDP is a leading beverage company in North America, with a diverse portfolio of flavored (non-cola) CSDs, NCBs, including water (enhanced and flavored), ready-to-drink tea and coffee, juice, juice drinks, mixers and specialty coffee, and is a leading producer of innovative single serve brewers. With a wide range of hot and cold beverages that meet virtually any consumer need, KDP key brands include Keurig, Dr Pepper, Canada Dry, Snapple, Bai, Mott's, Core, Green Mountain and The Original Donut Shop. KDP has some of the most recognized beverage brands in North America, with significant consumer awareness levels and long histories that evoke strong emotional connections with consumers. KDP offers more than 125 owned, licensed and partner brands, including the top ten best-selling coffee brands and Dr Pepper as a leading flavored CSD in the U.S. according to IRi, available nearly everywhere people shop and consume beverages.

KDP operates as an integrated brand owner, manufacturer and distributor. We believe our integrated business model strengthens our route-to-market and provides opportunities for net sales and profit growth through the alignment of the economic interests of our brand ownership and our manufacturing and distribution businesses through both our DSD system and our WD system. KDP markets and sells its products to retailers, including supermarkets, mass merchandisers, club stores, pure-play e-commerce retailers, and office superstores; to restaurants, hotel chains, office product and coffee distributors, and partner brand owners; and directly to consumers through its website. Our integrated business model enables us to be more flexible and responsive to the changing needs of our large retail customers and allows us to more fully leverage our scale and reduce costs by creating greater geographic manufacturing and distribution coverage.

SEGMENTS

Effective January 1, 2021, we modified our internal reporting and operating segments to reflect changes in the executive leadership team to further enhance speed-to-market and decision effectiveness. These modifications did not change our reportable segments. As of December 31, 2021, our reportable segments were as follows:

  • The Coffee Systems segment reflects sales in the U.S. and Canada of the manufacture and distribution of finished goods relating to the Company's single-serve brewers, K-Cup pods and other coffee products.

  • The Packaged Beverages segment reflects sales in the U.S. and Canada from the manufacture and distribution of finished beverages and other products, including sales of the Company's own brands and third-party brands, through our DSD and WD systems. DSD and WD have both been identified as operating segments that the Company aggregated into Packaged Beverages due to similar economic characteristics and similarities in the nature of finished goods sales and route-to-markets.

  • The Beverage Concentrates segment reflects sales of the Company's branded concentrates and syrup to third-party bottlers, primarily in the U.S. and Canada. Most of the brands in this segment are CSDs. Our FFS operating segment is aggregated with our Branded Concentrates operating segment into our Beverage Concentrates reportable segment due to similar economic characteristics and similarities in the nature of the product sold.

  • The Latin America Beverages segment reflects sales in Mexico, the Caribbean, and other international markets from the manufacture and distribution of concentrates, syrup and finished beverages.

VOLUME

In evaluating our performance, we consider different volume measures depending on whether we sell beverage concentrates, finished beverages, pods or brewers.

Coffee Systems K-Cup Pod and Appliance Sales Volume

In our Coffee Systems segments, we measure our sales volume as the number of appliances and the number of individual K-Cup pods sold to our customers.

Packaged Beverages and Latin America Beverages Sales Volume

In our Packaged Beverages and Latin America Beverages segments, we measure volume as case sales to customers. A case sale represents a unit of measurement equal to 288 fluid ounces of packaged beverage sold by us. Case sales include both our owned brands and certain brands licensed to and/or distributed by us.

Beverage Concentrates Sales Volume

In our Beverage Concentrates segment, we measure our sales volume as concentrate case sales for concentrates sold by us to our bottlers and distributors. A concentrate case is the amount of concentrate needed to make one case of 288 fluid ounces of finished beverage, the equivalent of 24 twelve ounce servings. It does not include any other component of the finished beverage other than concentrate.

USE OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Non-GAAP financial measures are provided in addition to U.S. GAAP measures, including adjusted income from operations, adjusted net income and adjusted diluted earnings per share. See Non-GAAP Financial Measures for more information, including reconciliations to the corresponding U.S. GAAP measures.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Financial Overview

As Reported, in millions (except Diluted EPS)

kdp-20211231_g7.jpgkdp-20211231_g8.jpgkdp-20211231_g9.jpgkdp-20211231_g10.jpg

As Adjusted, in millions (except Diluted EPS)

kdp-20211231_g11.jpgkdp-20211231_g12.jpg kdp-20211231_g13.jpg

During the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, we made net repayments of our Notes, our commercial paper and our other credit agreements of $1,721 million and $951 million, respectively.

On November 1, 2021, Coca-Cola announced that it had acquired full ownership of BodyArmor. On December 15, 2021, we received $576 million of cash proceeds, net of holdback liabilities, from the sale of our equity interests in BodyArmor to Coca-Cola. As a result, we recorded an estimated gain on the sale of approximately $524 million during the fourth quarter of 2021. Refer to Note 14 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for further information about the transaction.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, we announced that our Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program of up to $4 billion of our outstanding common stock, beginning on January 1, 2022, potentially enabling us to return value to shareholders.

Uncertainties and Trends Affecting Our Business

We believe t

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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

We are exposed to market risks arising from changes in market rates and prices, including movements in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates and commodity prices. From time to time, we may enter into derivatives or other financial instruments to hedge or mitigate commercial risks. We do not enter into derivative instruments for speculation, investing or trading. Refer to Note 6 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for further information about our derivative instruments.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE RISK

The majority of our net sales, expenses and capital purchases are transacted in U.S. dollars. However, we have exposure with respect to foreign exchange rate fluctuations. Our primary exposure to foreign exchange rates is the Canadian dollar, the Mexican peso and the Euro against the U.S. dollar. Exchange rate gains or losses related to foreign currency transactions are recognized as transaction gains or losses in our income statement as incurred. As of December 31, 2021, the impact to our income from operations of a 10% swing (up or down) in exchange rates is estimated to be an increase or decrease of approximately $48 million on an annual basis.

We use derivative instruments such as foreign exchange forward contracts to manage a portion of our exposure to changes in foreign exchange rates. As of December 31, 2021, we had derivative contracts outstanding with notional values of $848 million maturing at various dates through September 25, 2024.

INTEREST RATE RISK

We centrally manage our debt portfolio through the use of interest rate contracts and monitor our mix of fixed-rate and variable-rate debt. As of December 31, 2021, the carrying value of our fixed-rate debt, excluding lease obligations, was $11,733 million and our variable-rate debt was $149 million, comprised entirely of commercial paper. Additionally, as of December 31, 2021, the total notional value of receive-fixed, pay-variable interest rate swaps was $400 million. Our variable-rate instruments are generally based on LIBOR and a credit spread.

We estimate that the potential impact to our interest rate expense associated with variable rate debt and derivative instruments resulting from a hypothetical interest rate change of 1%, based on variable-rate debt and derivative instrument levels as of December 31, 2021, would be an increase of approximately $5 million or decrease of approximately $1 million. Our estimate of the annual impact to interest expense reflects our assumption that LIBOR will not fall below 0%.

COMMODITY RISK

We are subject to market risks with respect to commodities because our ability to recover increased costs through higher pricing may be limited by the competitive environment in which we operate. Our principal commodities risks relate to our purchases of coffee beans, PET, aluminum, diesel fuel, corn (for high fructose corn syrup), apple juice concentrate, sucrose and natural gas (for use in processing and packaging).

We utilize commodities derivative instruments and supplier pricing agreements to hedge the risk of movements in commodity prices for limited time periods for certain commodities. As of December 31, 2021, we had derivative contracts outstanding with a notional value of $529 million maturing at various dates through November 28, 2023. The fair market value of these contracts as of December 31, 2021 was a net asset of $106 million.

As of December 31, 2021, the impact of a 10% change (up or down) in market prices for these commodities where the risk of movements has not been hedged is estimated to have a $40 million impact to our income from operations for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Item 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

Page Number
Reports of Independent Registered Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID No. 34)50
Consolidated Statements of Income53
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income54
Consolidated Balance Sheets55
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows56
Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders' Equity58
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements59
1. Business and Basis of Presentation59
2. Significant Accounting Policies60
3. Long-Term Obligations and Borrowing Arrangements68
4. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets72
5. Restructuring and Integration Costs74
6. Derivatives75
7. Leases78
8. Employee Benefit Plans81
9. Segments85
10. Earnings per Share87
11. Stock-Based Compensation87
12. Revenue Recognition90
13. Income Taxes91
14. Acquisitions and Investments in Unconsolidated Subsidiaries93
15. Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)95
16. Property, Plant and Equipment96
17. Other Financial Information96
18. Commitments and Contingencies99
19. Transactions with Variable Interest Entities101
20. Related Parties102
21. Subsequent Events102

REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the stockholders and the Board of Directors of

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.

Burlington, Massachusetts

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. and subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, changes in stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2021, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

We have also audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated February 24, 2022, expressed an unqualified opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matter

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing a separate opinion on the critical audit matter or on the accounts or disclosures to which it relates.

Indefinite-Lived Intangible Assets Valuation - Certain Brand Assets - Refer to Notes 2 and 4 to the financial statements

*Critical Audit Matter Des

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Item 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

Not applicable.

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

EVALUATION OF DISCLOSURE CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

As required by Rules 13a-15(b) and 15d-15(b) under the Exchange Act, management, with the participation of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2021, and has concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is (i) recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms and (ii) accumulated and communicated to management, including our chief executive officer and chief financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

REPORT ON INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting for the Company, as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Our internal control system is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of the Company’s financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

Our management, with the participation of the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, assessed the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Based on the criteria for effective internal control over financial reporting established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission, management concluded that the internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2021.

All internal control systems, no matter how well designed, have inherent limitations and may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

ATTESTATION REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2021 has been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, our independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their attestation report, which is included in Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data,” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

CHANGES IN INTERNAL CONTROL OVER FINANCIAL REPORTING

As of December 31, 2021, management has concluded that there have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting that occurred during our fourth quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Item 9B. OTHER INFORMATION

None.

Item 9C. DISCLOSURE REGARDING FOREIGN JURISDICTIONS THAT PREVENT INSPECTIONS

Not applicable.

PART III

Item 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Information required to be set forth hereunder has been omitted and will be incorporated by reference, when filed, from our Proxy Statement.

Item 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Information required to be set forth hereunder has been omitted and will be incorporated by reference, when filed, from our Proxy Statement.

Item 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

Information required to be set forth hereunder has been omitted and will be incorporated by reference, when filed, from our Proxy Statement.

Item 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

Information required to be set forth hereunder has been omitted and will be incorporated by reference, when filed, from our Proxy Statement.

Item 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES

Information required to be set forth hereunder has been omitted and will be incorporated by reference, when filed, from our Proxy Statement.

PART IV

Item 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

The following financial statements are included in Part II, Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data," in this Annual Report on Form 10-K:

  • Consolidated Statements of Income for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

  • Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

  • Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

  • Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

  • Consolidated Statements of Changes in Stockholders' Equity for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019.

  • Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 and as of December 31, 2021 and 2020.

SCHEDULES

Schedules are omitted because they are not required or applicable, or the required information is included in the Consolidated Financial Statements or related notes.

EXHIBITS

See Exhibit Index.

EXHIBIT INDEX

3.1Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. (filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on May 12, 2008) and incorporated herein by reference).
3.2Certificate of Amendment to Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. effective as of May 17, 2012 (filed as Exhibit 3.2 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (filed July 26, 2012) and incorporated herein by reference).
3.3Certificate of Second Amendment to Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. effective as of May 19, 2016 (filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed May 20, 2016) and incorporated herein by reference).
3.4Certificate of Third Amendment to the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. effective as of July 9, 2018 (filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed July 9, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).
3.5Amended and Restated By-Laws of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. effective as of July 9, 2018 (filed as Exhibit 3.2 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed July 9, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.1Indenture, dated April 30, 2008, between Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on May 1, 2008) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.2Form of 7.45% Senior Notes due 2038 (filed as Exhibit 4.4 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on May 1, 2008) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.3Registration Rights Agreement, dated April 30, 2008, between Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., Banc of America Securities LLC, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated, UBS Securities LLC, BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Mitsubishi UFJ Securities International plc, Scotia Capital (USA) Inc., SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., Wachovia Capital Markets, LLC and TD Securities (USA) LLC (filed as Exhibit 4.5 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on May 1, 2008) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.4Registration Rights Agreement Joinder, dated May 7, 2008, by the subsidiary guarantors named therein (filed as Exhibit 4.2 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on May 12, 2008) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.5Supplemental Indenture, dated May 7, 2008, among Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., the subsidiary guarantors named therein and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on May 12, 2008) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.6Second Supplemental Indenture dated March 17, 2009, to be effective as of December 31, 2008, among Splash Transport, Inc., as a subsidiary guarantor, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.8 to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K (filed on March 26, 2009) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.7Third Supplemental Indenture, dated October 19, 2009, among 234DP Aviation, LLC, as a subsidiary guarantor; Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.9 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (filed November 5, 2009) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.8Fourth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of January 31, 2017, among Bai Brands LLC, a New Jersey limited liability company, 184 Innovations Inc., a Delaware corporation (each as a new subsidiary guarantor under the Indenture dated April 30, 2008 (as referenced in Item 4.1 in this Exhibit Index)), Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., each other then-existing Guarantor under the Indenture and Wells Fargo, National Bank, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed February 2, 2017) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.9Indenture, dated as of December 15, 2009, between Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on December 23, 2009) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.10Fifth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of November 9, 2015, among Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., the guarantors party thereto and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on November 10, 2015) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.113.40% Senior Note due 2025 (in global form), dated November 9, 2015, in the principal amount of $500,000,000 (filed as Exhibit 4.2 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on November 10, 2015) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.124.50% Senior Note due 2045 (in global form), dated November 9, 2015, in the principal amount of $250,000,000 (filed as Exhibit 4.3 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on November 10, 2015) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.13Sixth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of September 16, 2016, among Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., the guarantors party thereto and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on September 16, 2016) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.142.55% Senior Note due 2026 (in global form), dated September 16, 2016, in the principal amount of $400,000,000 (filed as Exhibit 4.2 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on September 16, 2016) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.15Seventh Supplemental Indenture, dated as of December 14, 2016, among Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., the guarantors party thereto and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on December 14, 2016) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.163.13% Senior Note due 2023 (in global form), dated December 14, 2016, in the principal amount of $500,000,000 (filed as Exhibit 4.3 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on December 14, 2016) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.173.43% Senior Note due 2027 (in global form), dated December 14, 2016, in the principal amount of $400,000,000 (filed as Exhibit 4.4 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on December 14, 2016) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.184.42% Senior Note due 2046 (in global form), dated December 14, 2016, in the principal amount of $400,000,000 (filed as Exhibit 4.5 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on December 14, 2016) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.19Eighth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of January 31, 2017, among Bai Brands LLC, a New Jersey limited liability company, 184 Innovations Inc., a Delaware corporation (each as a new subsidiary guarantor under the Indenture dated April 30, 2008 (as referenced in Item 4.1 in this Exhibit Index), Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., each other then-existing Guarantor under the Indenture) and Wells Fargo, National Bank, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.2 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on February 2, 2017) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.19Ninth Supplemental Indenture, dated as of June 15, 2017, among Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., the guarantors party thereto, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on June 15, 2017) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.21Investor Rights Agreement by and among Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. and The Holders Listed on Schedule A thereto, dated as of July 9, 2018 (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on July 9, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.22Base Indenture, dated as of May 25, 2018 between Maple Escrow Subsidiary and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on July 9, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.24Second Supplemental Indenture (including the form of note), dated as of May 25, 2018, among Maple Escrow Subsidiary, Inc. and Maple Parent Holdings Corp. as parent guarantor, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee relating to the 2023 Notes (filed as Exhibit 4.3 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on July 9, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.25Third Supplemental Indenture (including the form of note), dated as of May 25, 2018, among Maple Escrow Subsidiary, Inc. and Maple Parent Holdings Corp. as parent guarantor, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee relating to the 2025 Notes (filed as Exhibit 4.4 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on July 9, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.26Fourth Supplemental Indenture (including the form of note), dated as of May 25, 2018, among Maple Escrow Subsidiary, Inc. and Maple Parent Holdings Corp. as parent guarantor, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee relating to the 2028 Notes (filed as Exhibit 4.5 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on July 9, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.27Fifth Supplemental Indenture (including the form of note), dated as of May 25, 2018, among Maple Escrow Subsidiary, Inc. and Maple Parent Holdings Corp. as parent guarantor, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee relating to the 2038 Notes (filed as Exhibit 4.6 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on July 9, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.28Sixth Supplemental Indenture (including the form of note), dated as of May 25, 2018, among Maple Escrow Subsidiary, Inc. and Maple Parent Holdings Corp. as parent guarantor, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee relating to the 2048 Notes (filed as Exhibit 4.7 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on July 9, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.29Seventh Supplemental Indenture, dated as of July 9, 2018, among Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., the subsidiary guarantors thereto, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.8 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on July 9, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.30Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of May 25, 2018, among Maple Escrow Subsidiary, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Citigroup Global Markets Inc., as representative of the several purchasers of the Notes (filed as Exhibit 4.9 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on July 9, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.31Joinder to the Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of May 25, 2018, among Maple Escrow Subsidiary, Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Citigroup Global Markets Inc., as representative of the several purchasers of the Notes (filed as Exhibit 4.10 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on July 9, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.32Description of registered securities (filed as Exhibit 4.40 to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K (filed on February 27, 2020) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.33Tenth Supplemental Indenture (including 3.20% Senior Notes Due 2030 and 3.80% Senior Notes Due 2050 (in global form)), dated as of April 13, 2020, among Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., the subsidiary guarantors thereto, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on April 13, 2020) and incorporated herein by reference).
4.34Eleventh Supplemental Indenture (including 0.750% Senior Notes Due 2024, 2.250% Senior Notes Due 2031, and 3.350% Senior Notes Due 2051 (in global form)), dated as of March 15, 2021, among Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., the subsidiary guarantors thereto, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. as trustee (filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on March 15, 2021) and incorporated herein by reference).
10.1Amended and Restated Employment Agreement, dated as of July 2, 2018, by and between Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. and Robert J. Gamgort (filed as Exhibit 10.5 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (filed on November 7, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).++
10.2Employment Agreement, dated as of April 12, 2016, by and between Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. and Ozan Dokmecioglu (filed as Exhibit 10.6 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (filed on November 7, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).++
10.3Restricted Stock Unit Award Terms and Conditions under the Keurig Dr Pepper Omnibus Incentive Plan of 2009 (filed as Exhibit 10.7 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (filed on November 7, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).++
10.4Matching Restricted Stock Unit Award Terms and Conditions under the Keurig Dr Pepper Omnibus Incentive Plan of 2009 (filed as Exhibit 10.8 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (filed on November 7, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).++
10.5Directors' Restricted Stock Unit Award Terms and Conditions under the Keurig Dr Pepper Omnibus Incentive Plan of 2009 (filed as Exhibit 10.9 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (filed on November 7, 2018) and incorporated herein by reference).++
10.6Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan of 2019 (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on June 11, 2019) and incorporated herein by reference).++
10.7Restricted Stock Unit Award Terms and Conditions under the Keurig Dr Pepper Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan of 2019 (filed as Exhibit 10.13 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (filed on August 8, 2019) and incorporated herein by reference).++
10.8Matching Restricted Stock Unit Award Terms and Conditions under the Keurig Dr Pepper Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan of 2019 (filed as Exhibit 10.14 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (filed on August 8, 2019) and incorporated herein by reference).++
10.9Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. Severance Pay Plan for Executives, effective as of January 1, 2020.++
10.10Restricted Stock Unit Award Terms and Conditions under the Keurig Dr Pepper Omnibus Stock Incentive Plan of 2019 (retention incentive awards for certain of the Company’s Named Executive Officers) (filed as Exhibit 10.14 to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (filed on October 29, 2020) and incorporated herein by reference).++
10.11*Keurig Dr Pepper Short-Term Incentive Plan and Sales Incentive Plan
10.12Credit Agreement, dated as of March 24, 2021, among Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., the lenders party thereto, and Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on March 26, 2021) and incorporated herein by reference).
10.13Separation and Release Agreement, dated September 24, 2021, by and between the Company and Fernando Cortes (filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K (filed on September 24, 2021) and incorporated herein by reference).
10.14Suspension of Rights Agreement, dated September 10, 2021, among Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (f/k/a Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc.), JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent, and the lenders and issuing banks party thereto (filed as Exhibit 10.13 to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (filed on October 28, 2021) and incorporated herein by reference).
10.15*Credit Agreement, dated as of February 23, 2022, among Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as administrative agent, and the lenders and issuing banks party thereto.
21.1*List of Subsidiaries of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.
22.1List of Guarantor Subsidiaries (filed as Exhibit 22.1 to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (filed on June 30, 2020) and incorporated herein by reference).
23.1*Consent of Deloitte & Touche LLP
31.1*Certification of Chief Executive Officer of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) promulgated under the Exchange Act.
31.2*Certification of Chief Financial Officer of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) or 15d-14(a) promulgated under the Exchange Act.
32.1**Certification of Chief Executive Officer of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) or 15d-14(b) promulgated under the Exchange Act, and Section 1350 of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
32.2**Certification of Chief Financial Officer of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. pursuant to Rule 13a-14(b) or 15d-14(b) promulgated under the Exchange Act, and Section 1350 of Chapter 63 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
101*The following financial information from Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.'s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021, formatted in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language): (i) Consolidated Statements of Income, (ii) Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income, (iii) Consolidated Balance Sheets, (iv) Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, (v) Consolidated Statement of Changes in Stockholders' Equity, and (vi) the Notes to the Audited Consolidated Financial Statements.
104*The cover page from this Annual Report on Form 10-K, formatted as Inline XBRL.
  • Filed herewith.

** Furnished herewith.

++ Indicates a management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement.

Item 16. FORM 10-K SUMMARY

Not applicable.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.
By:/s/ Ozan Dokmecioglu
Name:Ozan Dokmecioglu
Title:Chief Financial Officer of Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.
(Principal Financial Officer)
Date:February 24, 2022

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

By:/s/ Robert J. GamgortBy:/s/ Ozan Dokmecioglu
Name:Robert J. GamgortName:Ozan Dokmecioglu
Title:Chief Executive Officer, President and Executive Chairman of the Board of DirectorsTitle:Chief Financial Officer
Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.
Date:February 24, 2022Date:February 24, 2022
By:/s/ Angela A. StephensBy:/s/ Olivier Goudet
Name:Angela A. StephensName:Olivier Goudet
Title:Senior Vice President and ControllerTitle:Director
(Principal Accounting Officer)
Date:February 24, 2022Date:February 24, 2022
By:/s/ Peter HarfBy:/s/ Juliette Hickman
Name:Peter HarfName:Juliette Hickman
Title:DirectorTitle:Director
Date:February 24, 2022Date:February 24, 2022
By:/s/ Paul S. MichaelsBy:/s/ Pamela Patsley
Name:Paul S. MichaelsName:Pamela Patsley
Title:DirectorTitle:Director
Date:February 24, 2022Date:February 24, 2022
By:/s/ Lubomira RochetBy:/s/ Debra Sandler
Name:Lubomira RochetName:Debra Sandler
Title:DirectorTitle:Director
Date:February 24, 2022Date:February 24, 2022
By:/s/ Robert SingerBy:/s/ Justine Tan
Name:Robert SingerName:Justine Tan
Title:DirectorTitle:Director
Date:February 24, 2022Date:February 24, 2022
By:/s/ Nelson UrdanetaBy:/s/ Larry Young
Name:Nelson UrdanetaName:Larry Young
Title:DirectorTitle:Director
Date:February 24, 2022Date:February 24, 2022