About
Peter Dragone
Co-Founder of Keurig
Small Business Advisor
My Background
I have spent the past twenty plus years as a Consulting/Part Time CFO for small businesses operating in a wide range of industries.
My prior experience is that of a serial entrepreneur, managing various start-up and turnaround projects, including SeaTaste Chile, DB Thin Films, Sulzer Metaplas, Monsoon Kitchens, and others.  I am a co-founder of Keurig, Inc, now the multi-billion dollar, publicly traded Keurig Dr Pepper.
Previously, I was a senior financial/operational manager for Chiquita Brands International, where I moved after working in international banking at BankBoston.
Before Keurig
Mine was an unusual business apprenticeship. As a young loan officer at BankBoston, I traveled to Paraguay, Brazil and Bolivia, meeting with colleagues and clients, often charged with the collection of nonperforming loans.
When the possibility of an overseas posting diminished in tandem with the number of the bank’s Latin American offices, I jumped to Chiquita Brands International, where the Lindner family had just taken control.  I spent a thoroughly enjoyable six-plus years there, in financial, operating and strategic planning roles.
From reorganizing and selling numerous Polymer United (plastics) factories, acquiring US produce distribution businesses, purchasing banana farms in Costa Rica, and overseeing the budgets of Chiquita operations in Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama, it was a heady time with a great group of co-workers.
After a brief detour as the Director of Operations at the partially Chiquita-owned, Pascual Hermanos SA in Valencia, Spain, however, it was time to consider other options.  Small business beckoned.
Keurig
So, after a decade working in international business, I decided to forego a corporate paycheck. My college roommate approached me with his K-cup precursor, approximately the size of a yoghurt container, and convinced me to join him.
We formed Keurig, Inc, moved into space on the top floor of the old Waltham Watch factory building, thus beginning a five year odyssey for me . . . and a business trajectory that ultimately led to the company, by then renamed Keurig Green Mountain, being sold for $13.9B in 2015. Now, of course, it’s the publicly traded Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ: KDP).
Contact Me
Get in touch with me and my Worldwide Local Connect team.Â
