Caffeine without the guilt: How Cambio Roasters is winning the war on single-use plastic coffee pods

Cambio Roasters has put together a "dream team" with experience working in the C-suites of some of the biggest names in the food and beverage industries with the goal of helping to revolutionize the world of single-serve coffee. The team at Cambio Roasters is looking to help Americans have a better-tasting and more sustainable cup of coffee without drastically changing their routines or shrinking their wallets.

In February 2024, Keurig Dr. Pepper announced in its Q4 2023 report that approximately 40 million American households had a Keurig brewing system, meaning that millions of plastic K-Cups, also known as coffee pods, were thrown in landfills. Cambio Roasters is looking to put an end to the mass waste by introducing an aluminum alternative.

"The coffee doesn't actually like the plastic because plastic lets in too much oxygen to keep the coffee's magic," Cambio Roasters CEO and co-Founder Kevin Hartley explained to Fox Business. Plastic is porous and allows oxygen in, damaging the coffee's flavor, whereas aluminum keeps the coffee air-tight and fresh, according to Hartley.

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Hartley was previously a C-suite executive at Keurig Green Mountain before its merger with Dr Pepper, where he helped drive the company’s growth. He co-founded Cambio Roasters with Ann Hutson, who has a background in strategic marketing and program management. The company’s leadership team also includes COO Mike Cunningham and CMO Dave Sachs, both former Keurig Green Mountain executives.

Hartley, Cunningham and Sachs all underscored the pride they have in the work they did for Keurig, with Sachs saying that they all remain "big fans" of the machine. However, they also noted an increase in consumers' concerns about the amount of single-use plastic that gets thrown out daily as well as the consumption of microplastics.

Consumers have become increasingly concerned about the presence of microplastics in food and beverages, especially when the items are exposed to heat while in plastic containers. However, the long-term health risks are still not fully understood.

Mohamed Abdallah, a professor of environmental chemistry at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. who studied the issue, told Time that he found "significant levels of microplastics" when inspecting coffee made from pods. He confirmed the source of the microplastics by tracing them back to the plastics used to make the pod, according to Time.

"I just can't see how plastic is going to be sustainable. I mean, it's just people are becoming much more aware and concerned about the environment, concerned about what's going into their body, and they're looking for options," Hutson told Fox Business.

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While consumers are worried about microplastics, there are still aspects of single-serve coffee pods that keep them coming back, which is what Cambio Roasters aims to keep.

"What they love about it is it's perfect every time, it's simple, it's fast, there's no mess, no cleanup, one cup at a time. We thought there's got to be a better way to deliver those benefits to the consumer. And we believe we found one that offers both a fresher cup of coffee and less waste," Sachs said.

Cunningham explained that while the plastic used in coffee pods is recyclable in theory, there are multiple issues that prevent them from being turned into new pods or other items. First, the size of the pods makes it so they often go into the trash. Second, it's cheaper to buy virgin plastic than recycled plastic, making it less likely that a single-use coffee pod gets turned into something else.

"You take aluminum and all those dynamics flip," Cunningham explained. He said that because the diameter of an aluminum pod expands when it is squeezed, it makes it less likely that the pods get lost in the process. Additionally, aluminum is more valuable to recyclers, making it more likely that they will work harder to get the pods recycled.

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The philosophy of reducing waste goes beyond the elimination of plastic from the pods. Cambio Roasters' leadership also recognizes that traditional drip coffee causes waste.

"The factual truth is from a traditional drip coffee maker, the largest single consumer of coffee is the kitchen sink," Cunningham said. "It's not just the coffee, it's all the water that went into growing the coffee and whatnot, so right off the bat, like we believe that the single serve coffee market has inherent value because you're not wasting."

Hartley also highlighted the company’s pledge to support struggling coffee-farming families, committing 20% of its profits to the effort. He said the initiative reflects a broader shift among consumers seeking products that align with both their preferences and their values. Cambio Roasters is betting that shift will reshape how Americans brew their morning coffee.