Houston-based FreshBrew, one of the largest private-label coffee and tea producers in the country, announced this month the recent investment of $10 million into its specialty roasting and production divisions.
FreshBrew supplies specialty blended coffee, tea and total beverage solutions to companies in the food service, convenience store, hospitality and retail sectors.
The investment will expand current roasting production and will fund extraction, bottling and canning capabilities, making FreshBrew one of only a few companies in the country to offer total end-to-end beverage solutions. The expansion, which is on the same land the company has owned since its inception in 1995, is slated to be complete in early 2023.
“Over the years, we take a myopic approach with our customers, we look at what they want to achieve and look at their market, and blend their wants and our knowledge and create custom profiles for them,” says Al Ansari, president and CEO of FreshBrew.
As part of the investment, FreshBrew upgraded its existing roasters and purchased two additional roasters and added 11 packing lines for a total of 25 to accommodate increased demand. In addition, the company expanded its team lines and added sugar to its production to allow for sweet tea products.
Construction is now underway to transform the 40,000-square-feet of vending space to allow for extraction, bottling and canning production in-house. The company also acquired an additional 25,000 square-feet of space, creating a combined total of 140,000 square feet for the roasting plant and warehouse. The company plans to add up to 50 employees with the expansion and is currently at 100.
“I think COVID really changed the game for everybody in doing business, especially in the coffee market – people want innovative products, flavored coffee, cold coffee now. We believe unique items will be the wave of the future – the companies that are the most nimble will succeed and I think that’s what we do very well,” says Ansari.
Earlier this year, FreshBrew sold the vending division of the company to Compass Group North America, the owner of Canteen Vending Services, in response to rapidly increasing customer demand for production services.
Al Ansari is the president and CEO of FreshBrew. Photo courtesy of FreshBrew
A female-founded biotech startup has announced that it has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Steradian Technologies has developed a breath-based collection device that can be used with diagnostic testing systems. Called RUMI, the device is non-invasive and fully portable and, according to a news release, costs the price of a latte.
“We are extremely honored to receive this award and be recognized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a leader in global health. This funding will propel our work in creating deep-tech diagnostics and products to close the equity gap in global public health," says Asma Mirza, CEO and co-founder of Steradian Technologies, in the release. “The RUMI will demonstrate that advanced technology can be delivered to all areas of the world, ensuring the Global South and economically exploited regions receive access to high-fidelity diagnostics instead of solutions that are ill-suited to the environment.”
RUMI uses novel photon-based detection to collect and diagnose infectious diseases in breath within 30-seconds, per the release, and will be the first human bio-aerosol specimen collector to convert breath into a fully sterile liquid sample and can be used for many applications in direct disease detection.
"As the healthcare industry continues to pursue less invasive diagnostics, we are very excited that the foundation has identified our approach to breath-based sample collection as a standout worthy of their support," says John Marino, chief of product development and co-founder. “We look forward to working with them to achieve our goals of better, faster, and safer diagnostics."
Founded in 2017, Steradian Technologies is funded and supported by XPRIZE, Johnson & Johnson’s Lung Cancer Initiative, JLABS TMCi, Capital Factory, Duke Institute of Global Health, and Johnson & Johnson’s Center for Device Innovation.
The amount granted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was not disclosed. The Seattle-based foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman and co-chaired by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gatess.