Westrock Coffee Teams Up With Milk Supplier on New Bottle Facility

Lines will produce ESL and multi-serve bottles as demand grows

2/16/2024

Westrock Coffee is expanding its 524,000-square-foot RTD facility in Conway, Ark., and co-building new bottling lines with Select Milk.

Westrock Coffee Co. is becoming more vertically integrated with a move to co-build and operate a bottle facility. The Little Rock, Ark.-based company already provides coffee sourcing, product development, roasting, packaging and supply chain management services.

This is a joint venture between Westrock and Select Milk Producers, and the new site will be co-located at Select Milk’s plant in Littlefield, Texas. It will be dedicated to extended shelf life and aseptic multi-serve bottle production.

Westrock will provide coffee extracts and concentrates from its facility in Conway, Ark., and Select Milk will supply the milk from its co-located plant. The first products are expected to ship from the new lines in the first quarter of 2026.

Westrock is also boosting capabilities at its own ready-to-drink plant. “As we near completion of the Extract and RTD facility in Conway, we made the decision to expand our extract and concentration capabilities so that as we add additional lines in the future, we can do so without having to impact the existing operations of the facility,” explained Scott Ford, Westrock’s CEO and co-founder. “In addition, we have expanded our multi-serve bottle capacities by adding cold-chain capability to our facility. Together, these additions better position us to respond to existing customer demand for extended shelf life and multi-serve bottles and ensure we can grow our capabilities in the future without disrupting operations.”

Westrock is securing financing to help fund the project. Also this month, the company shared an update on its fiscal year 2023 performance, reporting that its adjusted EBITDA is expected to come in at the low end of its previously guidance range of $45 million to $50 million. Westrock will release its full year results on March 12.