Tackling the sustainability challenge of enjoying a cup of coffee

Time to come up with a sustainable innovation that combats the huge amount of plastic and aluminum waste, while making use of the convenience of single served coffee capsules is what Peeze Coffee Roasters and ATI (Advanced Technology Innovation) had in mind. They decided to develop a biobased alternative with the same functionalities and great coffee. Not an easy task which took years of research and involved dealing with over a thousand patents. 

In January 2015, Peeze and ATI first presented its unique biobased coffee capsules at the Dutch B2B hospitality event, Horecava. The new capsules and seals are made of polylactic acid (PLA), which is a material made of sugar beet residue produced by Corbion.

Being 100% compostable certified, the coffee capsules contribute to a circular economy as they can be simply thrown away in the organic waste container after usage. The biobased compostable material of the capsule remains functional, when it comes in contact with hot water. In this way, the advanced oxygen barrier preserves taste and aroma as the best beans are selected and slowly roasted, while the need for foil packaging is made redundant.

The capsules contain a unique blend of high quality 100% Arabica coffee that is climate neutral produced and sustainably sourced. Peeze experiences that the international demand is increasing rapidly, and sells the capsules currently under private labels in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the U.K. and the Netherlands.

Recognition for sustainable innovations in food

Last week, Peeze and ATI won the Food Valley Award 2015 for their innovative and sustainable coffee solution. “With this coffee capsule we offer a lot of people a sustainable alternative,” says Timmo Terpstra, Managing Director at Peeze. “This award keeps us motivated to go on, and to celebrate the success with our partner ATI. We have been working very hard in the past few years.”

Leo den Hartog, Chairman of the jury of the Food Valley Award commented on the prize winning biobased capsules: “We are very impressed by this innovation. The capsules offer a high quality, sustainable alternative for a widely used product with a global increasing market. Peeze and ATI combined a new technology with renewable sources and collaborated in a special way with various partners. Peeze delivers quality coffee, while complying with the desire of the consumer and contributing to a circular economy.”

Peeze Coffee Roasters and ATI won the eleventh award in the Dutch Food Valley history. An independent jury selected and judged all entries on their innovative character, economic feasibility, originality and the level of partnering/collaborating.

Sustainable innovation key driver for value creation

Recently Finch & Beak published the study 'Avoiding the Reporting Trap' which addresses the issue of building investor-proof sustainability strategies. Key for investors is to see the impact of a company's ESG efforts. If you are interested to learn how to turn sustainability into a key driver for innovation at your company, please contact us at hello@finchandbeak.com for more information.

Image source: Karsten Seiferlin, Flickr