Farmer Brothers facts for kids
Farmer Brothers company logo
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Trade name
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Farmer Brothers |
|---|---|
| Public | |
| Traded as | NASDAQ: FARM Russell 2000 Component |
| Industry | Foodservice |
| Founded | California (1912) |
| Founder | Roy E. Farmer |
| Headquarters |
,
U.S.
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Number of locations
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117 |
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Area served
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U.S. |
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Key people
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Randy Clark (chairman) D. Deverl Maserang II (president, CEO, director) |
| Products | |
| Revenue | US$545.9 million (FY 2015) |
| US$ 12.1 million (FY 2014) | |
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Number of employees
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1,800 |
Farmer Bros. Co. is an American coffee company. It helps supply restaurants and other businesses with food and drink items. The company is based in Northlake, Texas.
Farmer Brothers makes and sells coffee, tea, and about 300 other items. These products are used by restaurants and other places that serve food. D. Deverl Maserang II is currently the President and CEO of the company.
Contents
The Story of Farmer Brothers
Starting Small in California
In 1912, a man named Roy E. Farmer started his own business. He roasted coffee beans and sold them directly to people. He went door-to-door in Los Angeles, California.
His business did well for ten years. In 1923, Farmer officially made his business a company. He also started selling coffee equipment. He bought another company called Western Urn Manufacturing.
As the company grew, it opened new locations. These branches were all over California. Farmer Brothers quickly became well-known in places like San Francisco.
Growing the Business
Starting in the 1930s, Farmer Brothers added more products. They didn't just sell coffee beans and equipment anymore. They started selling many other items for restaurants and food businesses.
In 1951, Roy E. Farmer passed away at age 59. His son, Roy F. Farmer, took over the company. This was a tough time for the business. In 1952, the younger Farmer had to make the company public. This meant people could buy shares of the company.
Roy F. Farmer worked hard to make the company better. He made production more efficient and increased profits. Under his leadership, the company grew a lot.
Reaching New Heights
By 1998, the company's sales reached $240 million. Farmer Brothers had almost 100 branches. These were spread across 29 states in the Western U.S.
Around this time, some people who owned parts of the company were unhappy. They wanted to know more about how the company was run. They also wanted more independent people on the company's board. But the company stayed quite private.
Roy F. Farmer led the company for over 50 years. He passed away in 2004 at age 87. A new leader had not been chosen yet.
New Leaders and Big Changes
After Roy F. Farmer's death, Guenter Berger became the chief executive. Later, Roger M. Laverty III became the CEO and President. During his time, Farmer Brothers bought two other coffee businesses.
They bought Coffee Bean International. They also bought the coffee delivery business from Sara Lee. This second purchase cost about $45 million. Roger M. Laverty III left in April 2011.
Then, Jeffrey Wahba and Patrick Criteser became temporary co-CEOs. In March 2012, Michael Keown was named the new CEO and President. He joined from WhiteWave Foods. In April 2013, Mark Nelson became the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).
Moving Headquarters
On April 28, 2015, Farmer Brothers announced a big move. They decided to move their main office from Torrance, California, to Northlake, Texas. This move was planned to save the company about $12-$15 million each year.
Mike Keown, the CEO, said the new office would be modern. He also said it would be in a good spot for their customers across the country. The new Northlake headquarters opened in 2016. It created 300 new jobs, making Farmer Brothers the biggest employer in Northlake.
In 2016, Farmer Brothers also bought another company called Boyd's Coffee.
However, as of November 2023, some of their coffee cans still say "Distributed by Farmers Brothers Company, Torrance, CA 90502." This might mean some operations are still in California.
Public Domain Coffee
Farmer Brothers bought Coffee Bean International to expand into "specialty coffee." From this idea, Public Domain was created in April 2010.
Public Domain is a subsidiary (a company owned by another company) of Farmer Brothers. It is their main coffeehouse. It also works as a place for training their coffee makers, called baristas.
This coffeehouse is well-known across the country. It is located in downtown Portland, Oregon. This is also where Coffee Bean International's main office is. Public Domain is a place where Farmer Brothers shows off its best coffees.
