Benzinga | Jan 12, 2021 04:05PM EST

Farmer Bros. Reports Strategic Partnership With High Brew Coffee

Farmer Bros. Co. (NASDAQ:FARM) (the "Company"), a leading national coffee roaster, wholesaler, and distributor of coffee, tea, and culinary products, today announced a strategic partnership with High Brew Coffee ("High Brew"), a leading manufacturer of ready-to-drink ("RTD") coffee products.

Under the agreement, Farmer Brothers will distribute three flavors of High Brew's premium RTD cold brew coffee via their Direct-Store-Delivery ("DSD") routes. The routes are part of the Company's DSD network, which made over 50,000 points-of-delivery in the U.S. in the 2020 fiscal year. The cold brew products will initially 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 twelve months ending July 12, 2020, cold brew RTD coffee grew 27.6% year-over-year compared to the corresponding period of the previous year, and the products are increasingly being consumed by younger consumers.

Maurice Morange, Chief Sales Officer of Farmer Brothers, commented, "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. 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." David continued, "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."