Westrock Coffee Acquiring S&D Coffee & Tea for $405 Million

The Westrock Coffee logo. Press image.

Two of the largest private-label industrial coffee roasting companies in the United States are soon to fall under one private umbrella, as Westrock Coffee Company is acquiring S&D Coffee & Tea in a deal worth $405 million.

Little Rock, Arkansas-based Westrock — which operates an 87,000-square-foot roasting and packaging plant, a 30,000-square-foot bag plant, a 280,000-square-foot distribution center and a separate distribution center in Las Vegas — is purchasing the S&D business from the water-focused Cott Corporation, which acquired S&D in 2016 before announcing its intention to sell the business last month.

S&D remains one of the largest full-service and private-label coffee companies in the U.S., sending roasted and packaged coffees, concentrates and coffee equipment to thousands of wholesale buyers in the convenience store, hospitality, grocery, restaurant and cafe segments.

According to an announcement from Westrock released this morning, the two companies will continue to operate with their own brand names “for the foreseeable future” while S&D will remain at its home base in Concord, North Carolina. The combined company will employ approximately 1,700 people with the capacity to package approximately 220 million pounds of coffee annually.

“We are very pleased that following the closing of the transaction, S&D President and CEO Ron Hinson will remain as an advisor to the new, combined organization as chairman emeritus,” said Scott Ford, Westrock Coffee co-founder and CEO. “We value Ron’s extensive industry knowledge and deep relationships amassed over his 41 years at S&D.”