Northlake, Texas-based Farmer Bros. Co., a national coffee roaster, wholesaler and distributor of coffee, tea, and culinary products, has entered into a strategic partnership with High Brew Coffee, a manufacturer of ready-to-drink coffee products.
Under the agreement, Farmer Brothers will distribute three flavors of High Brew’s premium RTD cold brew coffee via its Direct-Store-Delivery routes. The routes are part of the company’s DSD network, which made more than 50,000 points-of-delivery in the U.S. in the 2020 fiscal year. The cold brew products initially will be pilot tested in three key U.S. cities: Chicago, Houston, and Dallas, with the potential to be rolled out nationally in the future.
According to SPINs IRI Data, for the 12 months ending July 12, 2020, cold brew RTD coffee grew 27.6 percent year-over-year compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, and the products are increasingly being consumed by younger consumers.
“We’re excited to be working with High Brew Coffee and to bring their leading RTD coffee products to our foodservice customers in these key markets,” said Maurice Morange, chief sales officer for Farmer Brothers. “Following a successful pilot phase, we’ll look forward to expanding the distribution of this product through our system in the future.”
David Smith, CEO and founder of High Brew Coffee commented, “We created High Brew to support the on-the-go daily lifestyle of our RTD drinkers – packed with natural caffeine (double the caffeine of a regular cup of coffee) and far less sugar than other RTD coffees, High Brew comes in a variety of flavors and is made with clean, natural ingredients. We are excited to work with Farmer Brothers and look forward to exploring new ways of tackling the many segments of foodservice with this partnership. The leadership team at Farmer Brothers has been great to work with, and we are excited to see the results in 2021.”
Founded in 1912, Farmer Bros. Co.’s product lines include organic, Direct Trade and sustainably produced coffee. With a robust line of coffee, hot and iced teas, cappuccino mixes, spices and baking/biscuit mixes, the company delivers extensive beverage planning services and culinary products to its U.S. based customers. The company serves a wide variety of customers, from small independent restaurants and foodservice operators to large institutional buyers like restaurant, department and convenience store chains, hotels, casinos, healthcare facilities, and gourmet coffee houses, as well as grocery chains with private brand coffee and consumer branded coffee and tea products, and foodservice distributors.
