Expansion of Coffee Operations
CLR Roasters Expands Plant, Production Capabilities and Distribution
SAN DIEGO, Aug 25, 2014 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Youngevity International, Inc. (OTCQX: YGYI) (www.YGYI.com), a global direct marketer of nutritional and lifestyle products and also a vertically-integrated producer of gourmet coffees for the commercial, retail and direct sales channels, announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, CLR Roasters, LLC has reached terms on a new 10 year lease agreement to increase the size of the Company's existing production and distribution facility located in Miami, FL from 38,500 to 50,000 square feet.
This CLR Roasters ("CLR") facility expansion will triple the size of the new corporate office space to more than 4,200 square feet to house its continuing expanding sales and marketing division and includes designs for a new coffee bar and lounge area to afford an improved coffee experience.
CLR has improved warehouse workflow, made upgrades to its quality control lab, and purchased additional equipment to improve productivity, including another JB Burns commercial grade coffee grinder, a new fully automated green coffee cleaning system and humidity tester to support its growing private label business, three printers for packaging machines, two labeling machines, new packaging machine for retail bags with value applicator, electrical upgrades to support new space and equipment, and installed additional racking, elevators and storage systems.
In addition, CLR has purchased another van to expand its Direct Store Distribution ("DSD") routes for its company owned Cafe La Rica Gourmet Espresso and Josie's Java House assortment of coffee blends and flavors. Since the Florida based DSD program was launched in September of 2012, CLR's company owned brands have experienced significant store penetration in Florida.
"We expect the plant expansion and strategic investments to support CLR Roasters current and future business needs," said Ernesto Aguila, President of CLR Roasters. "We believe that the investments into our coffee roasting operation position us to compete with any coffee company in the country. We are proud of the 104% revenue growth over last year of our coffee roasting and distribution facility in Miami, Florida, which is currently SQF Level 2 Certified and the second largest coffee roaster in the state of Florida."
"This significant plant expansion reflects the growth of our vertically integrated coffee division," said Dave Briskie, Youngevity International's CFO and President of Commercial Operations. "We have invested just over $575,000 in new equipment and plant improvements at CLR Roasters. The additional capacity is necessary to support our expected growth and for the installation of our state of the art K-Cup manufacturing equipment by the first quarter of 2015."
The company disclosed that the investment in equipment is being financed out of operating cash flows and already existing, credit facilities.
