Royal Cup looks back at 2014 to recap its Sustainability initiatives. Royal Cup recaps it's environmental stewardship, social responsibility and economic stability impact to discover what they are doing well as a company and how exactly they can improve their business as a whole. Because at Royal Cup Sustainability is not just a way to conduct business, it is business.

1. 2 0 1 5 S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y
R E P O R T

2. Royal Cup Coffee’s
Core Values
As a company committed to environmental
awareness and socially responsible
practices, Royal Cup takes pride in constantly
researching and developing products and
solutions. Our goal is to help customers achieve
their objectives, while providing solutions that
are environmentally and socially responsible.
Quality
We sell quality products and services and
are proud of our work.
Customer Driven
We are a 100% customer-driven company
and strive to create customer advocates.
Integrity
We maintain high integrity in all
interactions and treat everyone like we
would like to be treated.
Social Responsibility
We are good corporate citizens with a
developed sense of social responsibility
and we give back to communities our time,
talent, resources.
Work for Fun Profit
We are a profitable, growing company with a
fun-loving spirit, and a great place to work.

3. 1
At Royal Cup, we measure
sustainability success using
the Triple Bottom Line.
This framework captures an expanded
spectrum of values and criteria for
measuring organizational success by
Social Responsibility, Economic Stability
and Environmental Stewardship.

4. 2 3
Social
Responsibility
At Royal Cup, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is central to
our core values. We conduct business in an ethical and responsible
way. We are investing in a number of initiatives to maintain our
strong CSR position for the future.
Royal Cup is an active
member of the National
Coffee Association,
the Specialty Coffee
Association of America,
and World Coffee
Research.
Royal Cup is committed
to its partnership
with The Nature
Conservancy for over
20 years.
Royal Cup contributes
over 5% of pre-tax
profit dollars to various
charities and non-profit
organizations every
year. Our associates are
encouraged to give of
their time, talent and
money in support of
their local community
activities.
1 2 3
Sustainable Sourcing
Economic
Stability
Royal Cup recognizes the necessity of a healthy economic state
in order to positively influence the well being of our employees,
partners, and customers. We recognize and promote strategies that
spur creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship throughout the
organization, which facilitates the creation of shared knowledge
that impacts business and industry.
Doing business in a sustainable and
transparent way is a requirement for
Royal Cup Coffee and those in our
supply chain. This is particularly true in
sourcing and production of coffee, and we
are an industry leader in this area.
We support certified sustainable
organizations such as the Rainforest
AllianceTM
and Fair TradeTM
USA, but
believe deeply that true sustainability in
an organization and its supply chain is
cultural, and we work towards this
every day.
We value all players in the supply chain
who share our values, whether they
be farmers, exporters importers, or
brokers as they play critical roles in
the sourcing and logistics around
coffee roasting.
We work with coffee farmers and
cooperatives to support them and ensure
a viable supply chain of high quality coffee
and improve the livelihoods of these
producers. We are at origin continually
during the year working to understand
farm conditions, building relationships,
and sourcing great coffee.
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2 4

5. 4 5
Environmental
Stewardship
Royal Cup realizes the importance of being a good corporate
citizen. We strive to make choices that positively impact our
workplace and community. We believe in operational excellence.
Royal Cup is committed to working towards operating in the most
efficient, sustainable manner.
Royal Cup uses a regenerative
thermal oxidizer to reduce gas usage and
clean smoke from the roasting process.
Royal Cup actively promotes a rebuilt
brewing equipment program. We recycle
all unused metal.
1 2
We are continuing to work with a
nationally recognized waste management
company to design a waste recycling
program for all Royal Cup facilities
nationwide. Once implemented, these
efforts will allow Royal Cup to divert 99%
of all waste from land fills.
Our EspresShip Department partners
with UPS to achieve a carbon neutral
footprint for its entire line of business.
Royal Cup is testing route technology
to improve efficiencies in fuel
consumption and vehicle emissions.
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4

6. 6 7
Our
Goals
Current
Status
Projected
Status
2014 Goal
Complete
Give 5% of pre-tax profits to charity Complete Will complete
annually
100%
90% of headquarters employees donate to
United Way
Not
Complete
85% of
headquarters
94%
Royal Cup encourages and supports employee
volunteerism in our local communities
Complete Will complete
annually
100%
Link all Royal Cup community involvement around
the country and develop an interactive map
highlighting the company’s service from coast to
coast
In Progress Complete in 2015 10%
Obtain Certification from MWBE (Minority and
Women Businesses) with the goal of increasing
partnerships with women and minority-owned
businesses at 10% per annum.
In Progress Complete in 2015 50%
2014 Results
Against Stated Goals
Social
Our
Goals
Current
Status
Projected
Status
2014 Goal
Complete
Increase output of Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM
coffee by 5%; from 3.5 million to 3.675 million
pounds.
Complete Sold 4.3M lbs of
roasted coffee in
FY 2014
100%
Increase output of Fair Trade USA CertifiedTM
coffee by 60% from 250,000 to 400,000 pounds.
Complete Sold 505,000 lbs
of roasted coffee
in FY 2014
100%
Increase output of Organic coffee by 15%. Complete Sold 188,000 lbs
of roasted coffee
in FY 2014
100%
Reduce energy consumption in all our facilities. In Progress Installed Motion
Sensor Lights in
HQ, Working to
convert to LED
Lighting
Ongoing
Our
Goals
Current
Status
Projected
Status
2014 Goal
Complete
Strengthen and further define supply chain
transparency program by working with importers,
co–ops, and farmers in producing countries.
Complete Continue initiative
every year
100%
Engage the Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade
Organization in an effort to identify cause
marketing programs to help support specific
projects on one or more farms from which we buy
coffee.
In Progress Continue initiative
every year
50%
Continue our investment in the World Coffee
Research organization’s pivotal work on genetic,
disease treatment and prevention, variety trials
and other efforts.
Complete Will complete
annually
100%
Be a great place to work by actively promoting from
within, monitoring and measuring against diversity
goals, and developing and promoting safety and
wellness programs.
Complete Will complete
annually
100%
Environmental
Economic

7. 8 9
Based on the quality of our response to
CDP, Royal Cup was invited to attend the
launch party for CDP’s SP 500 Climate
Change report on the floor of the New York
Stock Exchange.
Completed CDP’s Carbon Disclosure
Project. Royal Cup was a first responder
for CDP in Alabama, putting Royal Cup
at the forefront of Sustainability for
Alabama based companies.
CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project)
holds the largest and most comprehensive
collection globally of primary corporate
climate change, water and forest-risk
information. CDP works to drive action
by companies and cities to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard
water resources and prevent the
destruction of forests. www.cdp.net
Royal Cup scored 85 out of 100 on
CDP. The average out of 3400 reporting
companies was 53.
2014
Highlights
2
3
1
Finalized plans for a major facility
expansion at our Birmingham campus,
which will add over 40 jobs and
will have a $3+ million impact in
our community.
Testing fleet management software
to increase efficiency and minimize
environmental impact.
4
5
Gave 5% of pre-tax profits to charity
in 2014.
Paid $154,874 in Fair Trade premiums
directly to farmer cooperatives in
Ethiopia, Brazil, Honduras, and Mexico.
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7

8. 10 11
Continue giving a minimum of 5% of
pre-tax profits to charity.
90% of Headquarters employees
donate to United Way.
Develop digital resources that help
demonstrate Royal Cup community
involvement around the country.
Establish corporate volunteer
program framework.
Increase partnerships with MWBE
(Minority and Women Businesses)
Certified organizations by 10%
per annum.
2015 Sustainable Goals
Social
1
2
4
3
5

9. 12 13
Continued investment in the World
Coffee Research organization’s pivotal
work on genetics, disease treatment
and prevention, variety trials, and
other efforts.
Contributions to support variety
trials of 15 different coffees.
Royal Cup Q-Graded Cupper to
participate in Sensory Lexicon Panel
designed to develop industry adopted
terminology around coffee tasting.
Contributions earmarked for roya
(Coffee Rust) relief.
Clearly define Royal Cup’s
philosophy regarding responsible green
coffee sourcing.
Trace coffees from various origins
and tell the complete story from seed to
cup. Identify all players in the sourcing
process and define the value that each
touch point brings.
Quantify the impact of Fair Trade
purchases at specific origins – Mexico,
Honduras, Ethiopia, and Brazil.
Provide an annual update on the
sustainable initiatives at Royal Cup’s
largest Rainforest Alliance CertifiedTM
coffee farms.
Supply Chain Transparency World Coffee Research
2015 Sustainable Goals
Economic
1 2
Conduct the Great Place to Work
Trust Index Employee Survey with a goal
of 70% participation.
Better understand and identify high
impact focus areas for improvement,
while referencing best practices employed
by Best Companies.
Conduct the Great Place to Work
Workplace Culture Assessment which
identifies gaps between the culture
we intend to create and the one that
employees experience.
Ad Hoc group assigned to evaluate
findings from the Culture Assessment to
determine if our investments in specific
programs and employee benefits are
truly aligned with employee values
and interests.
Work with students and faculty
at Emory’s Goizueta Business School to
develop a Cause Coffee product and launch
strategy. If successful, proceeds from
sales of this coffee will go directly to the
designated charity.
Cause CoffeeGreat Place to Work
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Install light timers throughout the
Birmingham campus public facilities
(break rooms, restrooms, etc.).
Reduce electricity consumption in
our manufacturing facility and corporate
office by using high efficiency LED
lighting to achieve kWh usage savings of
approximately 750,000 kilowatt hours
annually by 2017.
Implement a waste removal program
for all Royal Cup facilities nationwide
with the goal of diverting 99.9% of the
waste away from a land fill by 2018.
Strengthen electronic commerce
capabilities to reduce paper usage.
Work towards eliminating the use of
Styrofoam in the corporate office.
Reduce Carbon Footprint
Reduce Energy Consumption
2015 Sustainable Goals
Environmental
1
2
Expand the usage of a fleet management
software to increase the efficiency of the
route system.
Replace fleet vehicles with more fuel
efficient vehicles.
Continue to replace passenger
minivans with smaller vehicles resulting
in 33% fuel savings annually.
Work Towards a More
Environmentally Friendly Fleet
Continue to Work Towards CDP
Goals
Increase Output of Sustainable
Coffees
Complete CDP’s Carbon Disclosure
annually and continue to improve
our score.
Rainforest AllianceTM
, Fair Trade USATM
,
USDA OrganicTM
4
3
5

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13. RoyalCupCoffee.com