The US coffee roaster is prioritising long-term growth following recent equity investment and a new roasting and ready-to-drink facility scheduled to open in 2024
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Westrock Coffee CEO Scott Ford at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Conway facility | Photo credit: Westrock Coffee
Westrock Coffee has reported a mixed second quarter, with sales growth and the closing of the company’s $118.8m investment round offset by a $26.8m loss.
Net sales in the three months ended 30 June 2023 increased 0.6% to $225m, with revenues in the first six months of the year 5% higher than the same period of 2022 at $430m.
However, second quarter gross profit fell 8% to $35.7m with Westrock Coffee posting a $26.8m net loss for the period – higher than the $5.8m loss posted for the same period a year ago.
CEO Scott Ford said ‘meaningful costs’ and ‘overhead expenses’ were unavoidable as Westrock Coffee moves closer to completing the construction of its new roasting to ready-to-drink (RTD) facility in Conway, Arkansas.
“At each decision point along the way over the last year, we chose securing our success in launching the new extract and RTD facility over maximising this year's earnings,” he told investors on an earnings call.
The site, expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2024, will ‘radically alter the overall profitability and trajectory of the company’, Ford added.
Westrock Coffee has also closed its $118.8m investment round which will ‘fully fund expanded opportunities’ at the Conway plant.
In June 2023, the business received $75m investment from HF Capital and the Herbert Hunt family, followed by $25m from the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System (ARTRS) the following month.
The remaining $18.8m relates to common shares sold to affiliates of New York-based private investment bank Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. on 7 August 2023.
Westrock Coffee currently operates eight production sites globally, providing more than 20 million cups of coffee a day. With offices in 10 countries, the company sources coffee and tea from 35 countries of origin.
The Arkansas-based coffee roaster reported ‘record’ $868m sales in 2022.