Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/882602
24 STiR coffee and tea / Issue 5, 2017 (October / November) By Anne-Marie Hardie NORTHLAKE, Texas In 1912 Roy E. Farmer began roasting a few pounds of coffee a week in the back of his brother's bicycle shop. He then sold it door to door. Roy would have found it hard to imagine roasting an average 538,461 pounds a week (28 million pounds a year) before packing and and shipping it to 60,000 food and beverage companies across the US. Farmer Brothers Co. (Farmer Bros.) this spring began operations in a brand new 538,000 sq.ft. Texas-sized headquarters that houses a 100,000 sq.ft. roastery and 315,866 sq.ft. distribution center. The facility design ensures that the latest food safety standards were addressed, and improves overall product quality. Aesthetics was also an important consideration. Farmer Bros. created an expansive, naturally lighted commons with a welcoming atmo- sphere for employees, visitors, and business clients. The lobby includes a fully-equipped Public Domain coffee bar and comfortable seating so that visitors and employees alike can take a moment to enjoy a cup. Public Domain is the company's flagship specialty coffee house, an outgrowth of the 2010 acquisition of Coffee Bean International. Plans for the massive structure were announced in 2015. The Torrance facility, expanded in the 1950s, was costly to operate and presented an obstacle in winning new commercial clients. The transition from Torrance, Calif., was complex, and complicat- ed by a proxy fight to resist the move, but relocating to a modern roastery is expected to save $18-20 million a year while significantly increasing sales. Farmer Bros. is not the first company to depart California for Texas. FedEx, Toyo- ta, Mitsubishi, Liberty Mutual, and State Farm Insurance, have all recently located their headquarters to the Lone Star state. The combination of lower labor and operating costs, and lower cost of living, made Texas extremely attractive. Farmers Bros. distributes more than 90 million pounds of coffee a year. A central location and access to major trucking, train, and Port Houston transportation networks makes the company more competitive. The Northlake offices, which are near Alliance Airport, feature water-efficient landscaping, reflective paving, and roofing materials as well as low-emission LED lighting. The building was constructed with 10% recycled materials. The headquarters earned a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver certificate, and the company is fully committed to science based targets (SBT) initiative. Farmer Bros. new Northlake, Texas headquarters Farmer Bros. New Texas-Sized Roastery Photos courtesy Farmer Bros. Strategic move from Los Angeles to Texas paves the way for continued growth The new roasting facility has a capacity of 28 million pounds a year