Westrock Coffee Company has cut the ribbon on yet another coffee manufacturing and fulfillment center in Conway, Arkansas, the company announced this week.
The 525,000 sq. ft. facility compliments the company’s 570,000 sq. ft. plant it opened in the city last summer to scale its single-serve coffee business with an emphasis on ready-to-drink products.
Referred to as the “Clark” location for its street address, the new site includes warehousing, distribution and 130,000 square feet set aside for additional manufacturing.
According to a press release, Westrock is aiming to use the new site to expand its coffee pods business, with the Clark plant capable of making “millions of single-serve cups daily.”
“The single-serve category is evolving rapidly, and we are scaling our operations to meet our customers’ needs,” said Westrock COO Will Ford in the release. “This expansive new facility significantly enhances our capabilities in the U.S. market, and we are excited about the opportunities it will create for our existing and potential customers, employees, and the local community here in central Arkansas.”
Based in Little Rock, Westrock has invested over $315 million into its production expansion, with the first Conway facility serving as a more dedicated roasting and manufacturing site equipped with end-to-end automation. Combined, the two new plants are expected to employ around 900 people.
The company also owns and operates a smaller facility in North Little Rock.
In its Q1 2025 earnings report in May, Westrock reported net sales grew 11.1% in the quarter to $213.8 million, however gross profits fell 22% to $29.1 million and net losses increased to $27.2 million (up from $23.7 million the year before).
In the report, CEO and co-founder Scott Ford said that the Conway facility was “making great progress as we scale up the sales volume throughput in the facility,” and teased that the “launch of our second single serve cup facility in Conway has exceeded our expectations.”
But the project has attracted some negative attention. Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) sued Westrock last year, alleging the coffee company poached talent for the first Conway site and stole trade secrets. Westrock has denied the allegations.
Ford has not been shy about having ambitious goals for Westrock to become a leading U.S. coffee producer, telling BevNET last year that the company has “five- and ten-year plans that people would blush at”.
Ready-to-drink coffee sales have been uneven in recent years. According to Circana, sales of RTD iced coffees and cappuccinos declined by 7.9% to $3.3 billion in U.S. retail, MULO and c-store, in the 52-week period ending April 20, 2025. However, refrigerated RTD coffee was up 9.3% to $1.3 billion and the significantly smaller cold brew segment reported sales grew 16.1% to $232.2 million in the same period.