CONCORD, N.C. -- Revolution Tea said that it has entered a national sales and distribution partnership with national coffee manufacturer and roaster S&D Coffee Inc. As a part of the partnership, S&D Coffee, a national manufacturer of coffee, iced and hot tea products for the foodservice, quick-service, hospitality and convenience store industries, will now offer Revolution Iced, a tea and herbal fruit liquid beverage program, which includes equipment, service, staff training and marketing support.
The expanded relationship will expose Revolution's [image-nocss] new alternative Iced beverages to a broader national audience.
It was a natural fit to extend our existing service relationship with Revolution Tea, said Lee Wicker, senior vice president of the Specialty Coffee Division of S&D Coffee, Concord, N.C.
Revolution Tea's four Iced productsRed Hawaiian Iced, Emerald Green Iced, Rev Blend Iced and Golden Peach Iceduse an on-demand brewing system to blend real herbs, fruit and tea, which enables every glass to be served fresh. This new product line eliminates any leftover waste associated with conventional iced tea brewing equipment, the company said.
Our partnership with S&D Coffee puts the Revolution Iced beverage program on the map with their established route and distribution network, said Larry DeAngelis, founder and CEO of Phoenix-based Revolution Tea. Our Revolution Iced beverage will help expand S&D's product portfolio as well as offer an alternative, low-calorie beverage option.
Revolution Iced products include:
Red Hawaiian Iced: A caffeine-free fruit herbal infusion consisting of Elderberry, Hibiscus, Rose Hips, Pineapple, Blueberry and Cherry. Emerald Green Iced: Premium Japanese Ceremonial Matcha Green Tea blended with a small amount of fine-cut black tea, natural ginger, mint, jasmine and rose oil. Rev Blend Iced: Unsweetened fine black tea blended with kiwi, strawberry and mango. Golden Peach Iced: Fijian white tea blended with natural white peaches and lightly sweetened with natural cane sugar.
In other company news, S&D said it has relocated its tea operations into a new 44,000 square-foot building that enables the company to double blending capacity from 11 million to 22 million pounds annually.
Our increased capacity will allow us to meet the growing demand of our foodservice customers who want to serve high quality iced teas, said Jerry Collier, vice president of operations. Our investment in technology, paired with the expanded footprint of our tea warehouse, has made it possible for us to become an even greater resource for those customers.
S&D's totally enclosed, computer-controlled tea blending equipment allows the company to manufacture a variety of tea blends using teas from the around the world. The teas are personally selected by S&D buyers and come from major tea-growing countries including Argentina, China, Indonesia, Malawi and New Guinea.
Speed and packaging volume are advantages afforded by the expanded manufacturing facility. S&D has eight packaging lines that can produce up to 760 cases of tea per hour.
To guarantee the quality of its products, S&D's warehouse maintains only seven days' worth of tea inventory at a time. This ensures customers receive only the freshest shipments of packaged tea when they order from S&D. Daily cuppings are held to ensure that all tea leaving the plant meets with S&D's quality standards.
As on the coffee front, S&D has launched its newest sustainable coffee, Rainforest Select. Rainforest Select is a 30% blend of Rainforest Alliance Certified beans from Central America blended with Strictly High Grown 100% Arabica beans. Offered as part of S&D's Premium Gold Line of coffees, Rainforest Select is a medium roasted coffee.
Rainforest Select beans are certified by Rainforest Alliance, an international non-profit environmental and sustainable development organization whose mission is to protect ecosystems and the people and wildlife that depend on them by changing land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. More than 45,000 farm families directly benefit from Rainforest Alliance certification, which also guarantees good working conditions, fair wages to workers, access to medical facilities and schools for farm children. The Rainforest Alliance, along with members of the Sustainable Agriculture Networka consortium of nine environmental organizations based in the tropicshas set standards for the sustainable production of coffee. Farms that meet the group's guidelines are awarded a seal of approval that offers them increased access to markets and better prices for their product, especially as the number of consumers seeking sustainably produced goods grows.
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