We Take Our Coffee Green, Thanks

TORRANCE, Calif., March 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Some take their coffee black, but at Farmer Bros. Co. FARM we take our coffee green – thanks to an expanded recycling and waste diversion program that will help reduce our landfill-bound waste to zero by the year 2015. Following our SEED (social, environmental, and economic development) model, we've put our money where our mouth is: investing resources, taking the time to look closely at our operations, discovering ways to increase recycling, repurposing, and composting, and minimizing the environmental impact of our industry-leading coffees, teas, and spices.

From an environmental perspective, we've focused on diverting recyclable and compostable waste away from landfills in order to prolong the lifecycle of plastics and other byproducts and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The social aspect is about people: removing landfill waste from communities where we live and work and creating a company culture that attracts and retains socially conscious talent. We're a business, so to make all this work we've also looked at the economic benefits of creating additional revenue streams from former landfill products and reducing fuel and tipping-related costs from landfill hauling.

Our goal is to have zero waste bound for landfills by the end of 2015 through smart practices and innovation, and we have been working with our partners to identify opportunities. "Farmer Brothers is genuinely committed to waste reduction. Throughout their processes, they are actively working to increase recycling, composting and looking for new opportunities to reduce waste. Waste Management is proud to be partnering with Farmer Brothers and we look forward to continued success and helping them reach zero waste," says Trevor Kitchen, Major Account Manager for Waste Management.

The drive to reduce waste has been led by recycling the byproduct packaging waste from our packaging machines, removing an estimated 1,500,000 pounds of packaging waste from landfills each year. We are also repurposing the fiber bags used for shipping green coffee. They can be used as weed control in reclamation projects, tools for local farmers harvesting fruits and vegetables, bag-and-burlap for tree plantings, and much more. Farmer Brothers uses more than 50,000,000 fiber bags each year, and where most of these were once bound for landfills, today we have a waiting list for organizations eager to extend the useful life of these bags. Another success has been taking at least 15,000 pounds per month of chaff at our Portland facility left over from coffee processing and selling this material to companies producing natural fertilizers. These and many more innovations developed by our team are what have put us on the road to zero landfill-bound waste and will help us meet our goal by 2015.

About Farmer Bros. Co.
Farmer Bros. Co., or "Farmer Brothers," is a leading national roaster, manufacturer, wholesaler and distributor of high-quality branded and private label coffees, teas, spices and culinary products to foodservice, convenience stores and grocery retailers. The company operates one of the country's largest, most complete direct-store-delivery (DSD) distribution networks serving national, regional and local accounts. More than 110 branches throughout the contiguous United States help ensure on-time delivery of premium-quality products, equipment support, personal customer service and shared expertise. Since 1912, Farmer Brothers has consistently demonstrated strong leadership, expertise and innovation in the industry, and company executives hold key positions in such industry organizations as World Coffee Research, Pacific Coast Coffee Association, Coffee Quality Institute, Alliance for Coffee Excellence, the Roasters Guild and International Women's Coffee Alliance, as well as the presidency of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA).

In addition to operating three roasting facilities (including one of the first in the Northwest to achieve LEED^® Silver Certification), six major distribution centers, and branches in every major American market, Farmer Brothers was among the first coffee roasters in the nation to receive SCAA-certification of a state-of-the-art coffee lab.  It also operates Public Domain^®, a nationally recognized specialty coffeehouse in Portland, Ore. Plus, Farmer Brothers is committed to social, economic and environmental sustainability. Headquartered in Torrance, Calif., Farmer Brothers generated net sales of over $500 million in fiscal 2013 and has approximately 1,800 employees nationwide. The company's primary brands include Farmer Brothers^®, Artisan Collection by Farmer Brothers™, Superior^®, Metropolitan™, Cain's^® and McGarvey^®. For more information, please visit www.FarmerBros.com.

Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements." When used in this press release, the words "will," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates" and "believes," and similar expressions and statements that are made in the future tense or refer to future events or developments, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Farmer Bros. Co.