January 2017

Resolutions... Opportunities... One year, when I was about Sarah’s age (12), I made a list of 100 resolutions that I would tackle. That ambitious start did not last very long, and, to make it sound even more unproductive, I have no memory of any one of those resolutions. Several years ago, when our dog Harry died, we made a family resolution that we would get another dog. I am excited to share that this year, we brought a new black lab puppy home to our house. Her name is Tallulah. She bites almost everything she can right now, but she is a very cute puppy! It took us longer than we expected, but we made good on that resolution! If you make 2017 resolutions, then I hope you make good on them completely this year!!

With the 2017 New Year, Team Royal Cup welcomes newcomers Anne Pritz as our Chief Marketing Officer and Chip Wann as our Chief Financial Officer. I am very excited to have both Anne and Chip on our leadership team and I look forward to the new opportunities they will create through their leadership.

Happy New Year!

The calendar has turned to 2017, a new year where we get to celebrate moments from 2016 and then be excited about what this year will bring and what will make 2017 memorable.

Will you make new resolutions this year and, if so, which ones will you keep?

What opportunities will you come your way or what opportunities will you create?

How will your new year start?

Emmie, Will, Edie, Sarah and I started our new year by toasting 2016 ending and 2017 beginning at midnight in Greenville, South Carolina. With Emmie’s parents, we watched and celebrated with the New York City crowd as the ball dropped to mark the start of 2017. Then, on New Year’s Day, the five of us drove to visit my grandmother Missie in Columbia, South Carolina. Although our visit was not more than an hour, we enjoyed every minute!

At 97, Missie was quick with remembering fun stories about our family. She was eager to claim credit for having seen one of the Star Wars movies and “one was enough”. She recommended a good book to read too.

What makes 2017’s start special for me is that we got to see Missie just a few days before she passed and joined my grandfather Buddy in Heaven. I owe my grandmother thanks for teaching me things like how to play golf, what cards to play in bridge, and why writing is best when captured with real experiences. It was her way of building a relationship that would mean so much more throughout her life!

I hope that we all will see an abundance of opportunities come our way throughout 2017! And, I am pulling for each of us to have the creativity and the energy to take full advantage of those opportunities this year!

Special thanks to our 2016 Christmas Committee

(Pam Newton, Christian Collins, Noralyn Goddard,

Shirley Jones, Hiram Stone and Gena Hyatt)

and all who attended including our wonderful retirees.

Each year at Christmas, Headquarters’ employees come together and support a chosen charity and this year was no exception. The Sugar Plum Shop of Children’s Hospital gives patients and their families the opportunity to participate in holiday festivities despite being hospitalized. An incredible surprise More than 500 children who are inpatients the week of Christmas receive donated games and toys provided by the community. The space is created within the hospital to look like a true toy store and the only difference is...everything is FREE! As you may imagine, these family’s lives are turned upside down and quite possibly could be facing anything from a minor injury to a very serious medical concern. A traditional Christmas is probably inconceivable. There are hundreds of beautiful testimonials from families over the years who have been impacted by this true gift. We get by with a little help from our friends Royal Cup, along with our partners at Joe Muggs & Books-A-Million, created “The Gum Drop Café”. A number of specialty drinks were served for family members to enjoy in a festive, yet relaxing space while local volunteers wrapped the generously donated gifts that the families handpicked for their children. Gifts were not only given to all of the patients but each of their siblings as well. In addition to the Café, BAM donated over $90,000 worth of books!

We had a variety of “ways to give” and the employee gift kit pictured on the left was one that was a hit. For only $10, employees could purchase a kit that consisted of a bag of our holiday blend coffee, a colorful card sharing information about Children’s Hospital and how impactful the community is when constructing the Sugar Plum Shop each year. Enclosed is also a burlap ornament made from our very own HC Valentine coffee bags. If you are interested in purchasing one of these limited edition gift kits, please reach out to Gena Hyatt.

Steve Hartman and the BAM Gum Drop Café baristas

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Chris Colwart & Tyler Irby recently

won the business of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce who wanted a “coffeehouse experience”

for their team members. Looks great, guys, and congratulations on the sale!

Ben Pitts, taking a much needed break after a recent meeting with our

good friends, Marriott.

Congratulations are in order for Mike Powell and the HC Valentine Team!

Royal Cup was recently named Vendor of the Year by Another Broken Egg!

“It would be a difficult task for any parent to go through a situation like this without the prayers and support from family and friends. The Royal Cup family certainly made a difference in Leigh’s recovery by giving our family the strength to keep a positive attitude during a time we could have given up. Thank you, Hatton, for visiting Leigh, days after the accident, and reminding us about staying positive – imagine that. There were so many that sent prayers and messages of encouragement and our family continues to thank each of you. As I hear Leigh laughing in the next room, I know she thanks you as well...”

-Ed Sellers, South Carolina FoodService National Accounts

On the morning of Christmas Eve 2015, Ed Sellers’ family never realized that the events of that day would forever change their lives. His daughter, Leigh Sellers, had just finished her overnight shift at Iredell Memorial Hospital, where she worked as a certified nursing assistant, and decided to run some last-minute errands before returning home. Leigh was looking forward to the family’s annual tradition of attending the candlelight Christmas service at Broad Street United Methodist Church. Those plans were never realized. About 12:30 p.m. Sellers, of Hiddenite, NC, veered off the right side of the rain-slicked road. Her truck struck a trash can before Sellers jerked the wheel back to the left. The truck traveled into the southbound lane of traffic, according to the N.C. Highway Patrol where a Jeep Liberty slammed into the passenger side at an estimated speed of 45 mph.

Family faces uncertainty For the Sellers family, in the first several hours after the crash, their Christmas was spent in a whirlwind of grief and uncertainty. Sellers suffered severe head trauma in the crash, along with broken ribs, vertebrae and pelvis and a collapsed lung. She was found unconscious by first responders and transported to Carolinas Medical Center’s intensive care unit. Doctors diagnosed Leigh with the most severe form of head trauma, (DAI - diffuse axonal injury), and said the odds of resuming a normal life were against her.

“The impact of the two vehicles was so hard that the

eyeglasses of the other driver were found in the back

of her truck. I’ve been to a lot of calls but this is one

that I’ll always remember because of the severity of

injuries. It was touch-and-go for a while and I didn’t

know if she would make it.”

– Chief Wesley Morris, Troutman Fire and Rescue Assistant

Defying the odds This year, however, there’s cause for celebration. Sellers is recovering from an injury many don’t come back from. The 32-year-old’s determination, along with plenty of family support and a lot of prayer, has helped in her recovery. “She is already proving to be in the 10 percent who thrive after this type of injury. We had to put Leigh in God’s hands. We never gave up.” said Sellers’ mother, Cindy. “It is very emotional because of what we almost lost last year. She’s a tremendous blessing to all of us. She’s our miracle.”

A year since near fatal crash, Leigh Sellers continues to defy the odds

Friends and Family Night For years, Royal Cup has been pleased to sponsor Winter Wonderland for our community to enjoy. In addition to that, we host a Friends and Family Night which is always a fun time to get together to enjoy something that we are proud to support and at a time during the busy holiday season where we can relax and just have fun! Over 400 of our closest friends and family members attended this year, enjoying pictures with Santa, an indoor zip line, Itty Bitty Magic City, and all of the other many wonderful exhibits that the McWane Science Center has to offer. When you come to Birmingham, it is a must see!

Grandparents Henry & Norma Patterson Nashville Service FSD

Hudson Everett Patterson November 2016

Bonnie Pendley recently retired after 32 years. She served in

several roles throughout her tenure at Royal Cup. Since 2009, Bonnie worked alongside Jim Collins in Support Services, making a very positive impact managing DOT

compliance and many fleet administrative functions.

Thanks, Bonnie, for your dedication to keeping all of us compliant

and up to “speed” on our fleet programs.

Parents Ben & Jamie Parsons Phone Fix Department—HQ

Josie Beatrix Parsons December 2016

Fun fact-all of Bonnie’s family members who joined us (pictured below) with the exception of her grandson, worked at Royal Cup

over the years.

Bonnie and Alex Humphreys - (our new Fleet & Compliance Manager)

Grandparents Rhodona & Mike Carroll Production—Packaging

Kindle Lynn Bullard September 2016

Don Gaskin recently retired after 30+ years in the Tampa Warehouse. He will surely be remembered as a hard worker

and a dedicated employee. Pulling orders, unloading trucks, and hanging pallets are all tasks that can often go

unnoticed. His work was hard and he did it well with a great “can do” attitude.

Thanks, Don, for your true commitment to Royal Cup. You will be greatly missed.

The first webcam in the world was made for coffee.

In 1991, a group of Cambridge University scientists set up a

camera on their coffee pot in their breakroom -streaming the footage live on the web so that they would be able to see if the

pot was empty or not, saving them the disappointment of a

coffee-less trip.

Ingredients: Makes about 4 delicious cups. 1/2 cup of freshly brewed Royal Cup or H.C. Valentine Coffee. We recommend our H.C. Valentine Signature Blend for a full bodied flavor. 1 teaspoon vanilla. 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. 2 cups of low-fat milk. 1 cup of half and half. 2/3 cup of white chocolate chips. Optional: Whipped Cream for topping.

Instructions: 1. In a saucepan, heat up your milk, half and half, white chocolate chips and coffee until chips are melted 2. Stir occasionally. 3. Stir in vanilla and almond extract. 4. Pour into your favorite coffee mugs and enjoy! 5. Top with whipped cream and a candy cane for a little extra flair.

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Whatsbrewing@royalcupcoffee.com So we can share with everyone.

Administrative Support Person of the Year Maria Smith

Top Gun Award Ed Sellers

Customer Service Award Mexi Green

OCS Queen of Coffee Mary Beth Huffman

OCS King of Allied Jack Lawton

FSD Lion Pride Award Ryan Kimm

OCS Service Technician of the Year Mitch Edwards

FSD Service Technician of the Year Kirk Rapczynski

OCS Territory Manager of the Year Glenn Bowen

FSD Territory Manager of the Year Al Quintero

OCS Manager of the Year Bob Bates

FSD Manager of the Year Todd Gullian

G & A Employee of the Year Heather Shewmake

Operations—Receiving & Roasting James White

Operations—Packaging 1st shift Daphnie Davis

Operations—Packaging 2nd shift Betty Tyler

Operations—Packaging 3rd shift Robin Byrd

Operations—Maintenance David Calhoun

Operations—Warehouse 10 Darby Reece

Operations—Warehouse 15 1st shift Michael Hyatt

Operations—Warehouse 15 2nd shift Charlie Adams

Operations—Transportation Clarence Williams, Sr.

Equipment Operations George Neal

Equipment Administrative Derek Pearman

Operations—EspresShip Josh Gaddy

Operations—Quality Assurance Shanae Dunn

20

16

Aw

ar

ds

Please take a moment to congratulate those who were presented with awards this past Fall at their Regional Meetings.

We missed seeing everyone at the Annual Company Meeting and we look forward to seeing everyone in 2017.

Operations Receiving & Roasting

James White

Operations Packaging 1st shift

Daphnie Davis

Operations Packaging 2nd shift

Betty Tyler

Operations Packaging 3rd shift

Robin Byrd

Operations Maintenance

David Calhoun

Operations Warehouse 10 Darby Reece

Operations Warehouse 15 1st shift

Michael Hyatt

Operations Warehouse 15 2nd shift

Charlie Adams

Operations Transportation

Clarence Williams, Sr.

Equipment Operations George Neal

Equipment Administrative Derek Pearman

Operations-EspresShip Josh Gaddy

Operations Quality Assurance

Shanae Dunn

G & A Heather Shewmake

Administrative Support Person of the Year

Maria Smith

Top Gun Award Ed Sellers

Customer Servce Mexi Green

OCS Queen of Coffee Mary Beth Huffman

OCS King of Allied Jack Lawton

FSD Lion Pride Award Ryan Kimm

OCS Service Technician Of the Year

Mitch Edwards

FSD Service Technician Of the Year

Kirk Rapczynski

OCS Territory Manager Of the Year

Glenn Bowen

FSD Territory Manager Of the Year Al Quintero

OCS Manager Of the Year Bob Bates

FSD Manager Of the Year

Todd Gullian

Anniversary Date Tenure

Bill Smith Jr 1/15 49Don Bevill 1/21 32Dwayne Marsh 1/23 28Dusty Rothrock 1/29 27Jeff Bishop 1/13 25Bill Smith III 1/3 23Barbara Blake 1/10 23Dave Eberhard 1/5 19Leesa Scott 1/1 18David Calhoun 1/4 18Susan Taylor 1/3 17Dana Harmon 1/3 17Johnny Hamberger 1/2 16Bruce Bria 1/8 16Tom Heiberger 1/28 15Jim Smith 1/13 14Bob ONeil 1/20 14Keith Denney 1/24 14Brant Bosley 1/12 13Drew Dutton 1/1 12Colleen Coon 1/24 12Eric Watts 1/31 12Alan Tolbert 1/16 11Ryan Floyd 1/29 10Jessica Wade 1/29 10Doug Brennan 1/3 9Rich Gabbard 1/5 8Alexis Gioia 1/19 8Mike Geisler 1/13 7Mike Membreno 1/3 6Paul Marcum 1/3 6Stephanie Fleming 1/17 6Rob Mitchum 1/25 6Johnnie Willis 1/2 5Israel Perez 1/9 5Ryan Kimm 1/9 5Felipe Martinez 1/16 5Carlos Perez 1/16 5John Poortinga 1/16 5Kemper Brinkley 1/16 5Joe Schladant 1/18 5Paul Mazanec 1/30 5Pam Lancaster 1/7 4Derek Pearman 1/7 4Drew Steward 1/7 4David Brown 1/14 4Matt Domini 1/14 4Matt Mobley 1/13 3Jeffrey Davey 1/13 3Jimmy Stansbury 1/17 3Nathan Woodward 1/29 3Martin Gray III 1/5 2Kirk Rapczynski 1/19 2Chad Colby 1/21 2Ray Jones II 1/23 2Jeff Lehmann 1/30 2Chris Meadows 1/4 1Ivan Barroso 1/11 1Nic Chorpenning 1/18 1Jamie Johnson 1/25 1Donna Miller 1/25 1Jaime Ritter 1/29 1

Anniversary Date Tenure

Geraldine Smith 2/13 31Joy Anna Wadsworth 2/18 26Steve Garbee 2/18 23Lori Crowder 2/1 21Jack Kimberly 2/12 21Scott McIntyre 2/17 20Gary McNeamer 2/2 19Mike Powell 2/16 19Larry Benda 2/16 19Dennis Hubbard 2/23 19John Long 2/19 16Bill ODay 2/21 16Stacy Ragsdale 2/18 15Stacey Taylor 2/3 14Dustin Stewart 2/7 11Matt Kilpatrick 2/14 11Victor Iozzo 2/17 11Tom Burris 2/27 11Jason Hoffman 2/28 11Brandon Cooley 2/12 10Lewis Frazier 2/29 9Jay Fuller 2/2 8Michael Barnhardt 2/15 7Jeanettie Sanders 2/24 7Rodney Wright 2/14 6Steven Nelson 2/21 6Mike Stewart 2/21 6Jeff James 2/6 5Jim Jebeles 2/27 5Corey Fields 2/11 4Wendell Green 2/10 3Jack Lawton 2/10 3Randy Tompkins 2/17 3Cory Sobas 2/24 3Chip Davis III 2/2 2Dustin Gamel 2/9 2Macon Cochran 2/1 1Vinnie Telford 2/1 1Noralyn Hamilton 2/22 1

Anniversary Date Tenure

Sherry Parrish 3/26 30Ed Sellers 3/1 27Chris Colwart 3/12 27Perry Young 3/1 24Jim Collins 3/18 21Randy Bowden 3/10 20George Pickens 3/17 20Sean Halcomb 3/1 19Steve Elliott 3/9 19Mike Kuchenbrod 3/9 19Stan Rodgers 3/8 18Steve Wordell 3/15 18Dave Frederick 3/1 16P.J. Threatt 3/11 15Howard Newell 3/31 15John Sandifer 3/26 14Philip Naro 3/1 13Nick Mazurek 3/13 11Michelle Scott 3/1 8Paul Atkisson 3/1 7Gina Holstein 3/17 7Jim Moore 3/7 6Nathan Garwood 3/11 6Russell Zediker 3/28 6Jessica Yoos 3/28 6Ken Bates 3/12 5Lacey Harris 3/27 5Billy Bishop 3/4 4Joey Shatto 3/6 4Nic Aguilar 3/11 4Joe Gioia 3/11 4Rick Whitehead 3/18 4Brian Hum 3/25 4Justin Caudle 3/29 4Jonan Cormier 3/3 3Marc Hyman 3/4 3Daniel Adams 3/10 3Jim Likus 3/10 3Maurice Carrington 3/31 3Aaron Norris 3/31 3Chris Merzbacher 3/31 3Amy Pluebell 3/31 3Matthew Bailey 3/2 2CJ Britton 3/6 2Debbie Franklin 3/23 2Joe Cambron, Jr 3/23 2Eric Suttle 3/23 2James Hild III 3/23 2Heyner Castro Mendez 3/2 1Bill Maffett 3/7 1Joe Watkins 3/16 1Todd County 3/16 1

JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH Years Years Years

Envision a crisp, misty, grey day in early December. Four Smiths are bundled warmly into a car. The season of Advent has just begun. Our family is on our annual jaunt to a local Christmas tree farm to select the perfect tree for our home. We read aloud Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory, as we make the drive out to the country. Each December, our family alternates selecting between two Christmas tree varieties for our indoor tree: one year a Frasier fir the next year, a Virginia pine cut by us at a local Alabama tree farm.

Perfectly Loved

We arrive at the tree farm, quickly unload from our cozy warmth, and climb aboard a covered wagon, drawn by two mules, Dolly & Molly. The clouds roll in swiftly, rain looms, and the wind begins to kick up. Our girls pull their scarves more tightly around their necks and faces, and huddle together. These sweet, gentle mules pull us through acres of farmland, the scent of pine is bracing. As we look out over the fields of evergreens, it gradually becomes evident that all of the perfectly “upside down cone” shaped Christmas trees are indeed quite small, most reaching only 4 feet in height, and sharply shaped. Our hope this year is to find a taller more imposing, grandiose tree, the “perfect” tree. At the far end of a pasture, we climb down off the wagon, stepping onto Alabama red clay. Dolly and Molly lumber onwards, giving their harness bells a shake. We stride several hundred feet forwards and three very unwieldy pines come into sight, towering over us. They are most definitely not the “perfect Christmas tree shape”, specimens which would never meet the strict standards for becoming the official “White House Christmas tree”.

Searching for the perfect tree

The girls race towards the shortest of the three, and we measure its height. The tape reads approximately 11.5 feet. Several branches reach towards the heavens, a gnarly, twisted trunk peers through the pine needles. Large, gaping holes throughout the tree’s scraggly body will provide ample opportunity for large ornaments and birds’ nests to find refuge, and these will creatively disguise the lack of greenery. After briefly inspecting the other two tall trees in the pasture, we decide that our first selection will be our “perfect” tree this year. It is beautiful in our eyes. It will be the year of our “artistic, whimsical tree”. We join in chorus, singing “O Tannenbaum”, then take turns with the saw, Jim bearing the brunt of that task, until finally we yell “timber!”, and the tree is felled. We lug it to the front of the farm where a hole will be drilled in the trunk, it will be shaken, and bagged. Jim heads to pay for our selection. I am tasked with ensuring the tree is standing straight when the trunk is drilled and other such details.

We pile into the car once more, tree tied to the roof, and begin our journey home, rain drops splattering our windshield, melodic strains of Christmas carols filling the air. Pulling into our driveway, our excited girls believe we can work magic (as most young children do) and will have the tree up in the living room almost immediately! As Jim cuts the ropes tying the tree to the car, I gather a bucket of water where the tree can rest temporarily while we prepare the living room. “Eleanor, can you come here a moment please? I think we have a slight problem.” Foreboding words indeed… Yours truly had forgotten to ask the farm staff to cut off the branchless bottom 2.5 feet of the tree trunk!!!! We had an 11.5 foot tree for a living room with 9 foot ceilings!!! Kind, patient, understanding Jim burst out laughing. There was no chastising, simply a good natured, hearty sense of humor. An Advent gift. The rain was pelting down harder now, the biting cold nipped at our noses and exposed extremities. Darkness filled the sky, and there we were sawing 2.5 more feet off our tree, and drilling a new hole.

Our tree eventually stood whimsically in our living room, one persistent branch jabbing anyone who walked too closely, its holes artistically enhanced, graced with our Christmas ornament treasures lovingly gathered through the years. Throughout the weeks of Advent, we were able to sit and read Christmas stories, entranced with our beautifully imperfect tree.

Our tree stood and beckoned, giving a much needed, gentle reminder. Even with all its imperfections, our tree was carefully, thoughtfully chosen with much love and care. It was unique and magnificent in our eyes. In spite of our own human imperfections, our gnarly, twisted hearts, our lives made up of a few good, strong, whole branches reaching upwards, mixed with more twisted, decayed branches, bent with suffering, our Lord loves us immeasurably, and has chosen us to be His. We are made in His image and He sees us as beautiful. He perfectly loves us so much that He gave us His most precious gift, His only Son, to be born in a lowly manger, hewn from an imperfect tree, that we might have eternal life with Him.

Our family’s prayer this year is that whether you are in the midst of great suffering or immense joy, each of you will know His unconditional love and peace which is beyond measure now and forevermore. —Eleanor, Jim, Anne Milbray, & Mary Coulbourne Smith

Timber! Imperfect. Beautiful. Loved.

By Eleanor Smith

Cheers TO THE NEW YEAR!