Westrock Coffee Releases Sustainability Report
Westrock Coffee Company has released a new report on its sustainability efforts, highlighting, among other things, the Little Rock, Ark.-based company’s efforts to support farmers and its progress in achieving its goal for using responsibly sourced coffee.
“Westrock Coffee entered the coffee business in 2009 to challenge industry norms and build a better future for the entire supply chain,” said Brooke Cantrell, vice president of sustainability at Westrock Coffee Company. “This report highlights our progress and achievements in expanding sustainability efforts over the past year, while also outlining our vision for the future.”
Notable progress highlights in the 2024 Westrock Coffee Sustainability Report include:
• Westrock Coffee’s Raíz Sustainability program, which celebrates 10 years of success affecting positive change on Latin American coffee farms in the form of sustainable agriculture, fair labor practices, and equitable supply chains. Since the program began in 2015, more than $8.5 million has been paid in farmer premiums to more than 6,800 participating Raíz farmers, and agronomists have provided technical support in more than 67,000 farm visits, demonstrating the long-term economic, social, and environmental impact of Raíz Sustainability.
• The company’s investment in sustainable manufacturing by opening the world’s largest roast-to-ready-to-drink (RTD) plant in North America in 2024. This state-of-the-art facility has the capacity to recycle more than one billion gallons of water annually and uses roasters that require 40% less energy than average, while roasting double the amount of coffee.
• Westrock has made significant progress towards achieving its goal of offering 100% responsibly sourced coffee and tea by the end of 2025, with 89% responsibly sourced coffee and 100% responsibly sourced tea by the end of 2024. The company also audited strategic suppliers for compliance with its Responsible Sourcing Policy and expanded its Real Roots entry-level sustainability sourcing program.
Westrock Coffee’s 2024 report also details the company’s sustainability strategy and vision for 2030. Among its goals over the next five years, the company aims to increase transparency and traceability, expand economic programming in coffee-producing countries to empower smallholder farmers, and bolster the company’s sustainable supply chain and ecosystems.
“We’re setting our 2030 sustainability strategy at a time when the global sustainability conversation has become convoluted,” added Cantrell. “We have a clear vision of the impact that sustainability will have on our business and the overall industry, and strive to meet these goals over the next five years.”
The full report is available on Westrock Coffee’s website.
