Westrock Coffee partners with Dallas-based milk cooperative on bottling plant

Westrock Coffee Co. announced Thursday (Feb. 15) it has entered into a letter of intent with Select Milk Producers to establish a joint venture to build a bottling plant in Texas.

Select Milk will produce for Westrock aseptic and extended shelf life multi-serve bottles by expanding its existing facility in Littlefield, Texas.

In addition, Westrock shared details about the expansion of capabilities at its soon-to-be-open Extract and Ready-to-Drink facility in Conway.

“We expect the joint venture with Select Milk will allow us to meet the needs of current and future customers for coffee-based RTD and concentrate multi-serve formats that include either traditional dairy or plant-based milks,” said Westrock founder and CEO Scott Ford.

Westrock expects to produce and provide the joint venture with coffee extracts and concentrates from its Conway facility and Select Milk expects to provide the milk from its Littlefield facility. Westrock and Select Milk anticipate the first product to ship from these lines in the first quarter of 2026.

The company also updated an expansion project in Conway and news on its private funding.

“As we near completion of the Extract and RTD [ready to drink] facility in Conway, Arkansas, we made the decision to expand our extract and concentration capabilities so that as we add additional lines in the future, we can do so without having to impact the existing operations of the facility. In addition, we have expanded our multi-serve bottle capacities by adding cold-chain capability to our facility. Together, these additions better position us to respond to existing customer demand for extended shelf life and multi-serve bottles and ensure we can grow our capabilities in the future without disrupting operations,” Ford said.

To fund the Conway facility expansion and the formation of the joint venture, Westrock said it has issued $72 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior unsecured notes due 2029 in a private offering. The notes are senior unsecured obligations of the company, and bear interest at a rate equal to 5.00% per year. The notes are convertible into shares of the company’s common stock in certain circumstances and during certain periods at a conversion price of $12.84 per share, subject to adjustment.

Dallas-based Select Milk Producers is one of the nation’s largest and most progressive dairy cooperatives. Established in 1994, Select Milk markets and processes milk from its member dairies in the Southwest and the Midwest. The cooperative is the owner or joint venture partner in eight processing plants, producing a variety of traditional and specialty dairy products, including powder, cheese, whey protein, cream, and butter.