A 3D printer lays down used coffee grounds to make a flower pot

© University of Colorado / Michael Rivera

Printed Technology

3D Printing with Used Coffee Grounds to Reduce Waste & Help Eliminate Plastic

In a novel initiative led by Michael Rivera, an Assistant Professor at the ATLAS Institute and the Department of Computer Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, researchers are working on leveraging coffee grounds to reduce waste in 3D printing. Rivera and his team have devised a method for 3D printing various objects using a paste comprising recycled coffee grounds, water, and other sustainable components. The project is perceived as an initial step towards the exploration of alternative eco-friendly 3D printing materials, which could potentially replace conventional plastics. Rivera expounded that the majority of consumer 3D printers in today’s market utilize thermoplastics, with polylactic acid (PLA) being the most prevalent. While PLA is theoretically compostable, only a limited number of composting facilities accept it. “If …

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Coffee brand Kenco launches plant-based lattes

© Kenco

Beverages

Kenco Targets Younger Consumer Group with New Plant-Based Oat & Almond Lattes

British coffee brand Kenco is diversifying its range with the launch of plant-based lattes, available in two varieties — oat and almond. Sold in boxes of six sachets, the products are said to offer a coffee shop-style frothy latte described as “rich and creamy”. They are low in fat and sugar, complying with the UK’s HFSS nutrition regulations. The lattes have been introduced in response to the growing demand for plant-based alternatives among younger shoppers, along with a trend towards making barista-quality coffee at home. Figures suggest that one-fifth of consumers now choose plant-based milks in cafés, while one in three consume them at home. “Big opportunity” The launch comes as consumers worldwide increasingly demand plant-based coffee products, leading creamer brand Coffee mate to introduce …

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MILKLAB almond barista plant based beverage

© MILKLAB

Milk- and Dairy Alternatives

Aussie Plant-Based Brand MILKLAB Seeks Growth Opportunities in SEA Markets

MILKLAB, an Australian barista plant-based milk brand currently available in 19 countries across Asia, the Middle East, and South Africa, says it has further expansion plans in Southeast Asia (SEA). Last December, as part of its first regional marketing campaign in Southeast Asia, the global alternative milk brand kicked off a series of pop-ups in Singapore called MILKLAB Oat Float for consumers to taste coffee blended with its MILKLAB Oat Milk. In addition, the company implemented MILKLAB Coffee Run, a month-long promotional event to create brand awareness that offered one-for-one beverages at 16 prominent cafes in the city. Peter Brown, Regional Sales Director for Asia, Middle East, told FoodNavigator-Asia: “By combining brand activations targeting both trade partners and consumers, we aim to increase brand awareness and …

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product of the year 2023 winners

Image: vegconomist

Fairs & Events

Product of the Year 2023: 17 Vegan Winners in Multiple Categories Chosen by UK Consumers

*Updated 2/2 to remove Starbucks Chilled Classics Multiserve which is not vegan* The Product of the Year, the largest consumer survey of product innovation in the UK, has revealed the winners of its 2023 awards, with 17 vegan products chosen by consumers across multiple categories. According to organisers, this year, nearly a fifth of consumers said plant-based was the most important factor when buying or trying a new product and plant-based products made the “greatest imprint” across multiple categories, ranging from big brands to startups. Consumer led The annual Product of the Year Awards is the largest consumer-voted award for product innovation and serves as a benchmark for predicting top interests and trends in the year ahead. In its 19th edition this year, 8,000 adult UK consumers …

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Gastronomy & Food Service

NotCo and Dunkin’ Chile Launch Plant-Based NotDonuts and NotMilk At All Locations

Food tech phenomenon NotCo announces it has joined with Dunkin’ Chile to launch two new plant-based donuts –  the Boston NotManjxr and the Sugar NotManjxr. Along with the donuts, Dunkin’ Chile is also debuting NotCo’s NotMilk, which customers can order hot or iced in any drink or coffee.  Now available at all Dunkin’ locations across Chile, the launch includes NotManjxr donuts – with “Manjxr” referring to the popular “manjar” sweet flavoring found in Latin America desserts. Dunkin’ customers can order the donuts in Boston NotManjxr, Sugar NotManjxr, and Double Boston NotManjxr flavors.  The collaboration also includes Dunkin’s introduction of NotMilk, which NotCo says customers can order for any frothy or creamy drink. Big year The news closes out a blockbuster year for NotCo, which recently partnered …

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Oddlygood Creamy Whole Oat Drink

©Oddlygood

Products & Launches

Oddlygood Expands US Dairy-Free Portfolio with All-In Barista Oat Drink

Oddlygood Global, a spinoff of leading Finnish food company Valio, announces the US launch of the All-In Barista Oat Drink. Available in shelf-stable cartons, the product will be featured this month at the Natural Products Expo East in Philadelphia and Coffee Fest Pacific Northwest in Seattle.  Made to provide creamy frothiness with no “flaking”, the All-In Barista Oat Drink was created with input from baristas and offers a full-bodied milk ideal for cappucinos and lattes. Uses whole oat The Barista Oat Drink uses non-GMO oats and utilizes the entire oat, which eliminates food waste, while being free from gluten and artificial flavors and sweeteners. Available in 1 liter, shelf-stable cartons, each serving contains 3 g of protein, 290 mg of calcium, 7 of fat and zero …

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cultivated coffee

Cultivated Coffee © California Cultured

Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

California Cultured Develops Cultivated Coffee to Address Industry’s Ethical Issues

California Cultured, a startup best known for developing cell-cultured chocolate, has revealed it is now working on cultivated coffee. Cell cultivation is usually thought of as a way to produce more ethical versions of traditionally animal-derived ingredients. But certain plant-based ingredients are also associated with ethical issues, such as deforestation and slavery. And while some ingredients can be produced using precision fermentation, others — such as chocolate and coffee — are too complicated for this technique to be viable. This is where the often overlooked idea of plant cell cultivation comes in. Speaking to FoodNavigator USA, California Cultured co-founder and CEO Alan Perlstein explained that the technology is already in use on a large scale to produce the breast cancer drug Taxol. This means the …

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Management Team Tropic Biosciences

Management Team ©Tropic Biosciences

Investments & Finance

Tropic Biosciences Raises $35M to Solve Crises of the $400Bn Banana, Coffee, & Rice Markets  

Next gen impact investor Blue Horizon has announced an investment in Tropic Biosciences, a developer of high-performance varieties of tropical crops such as bananas, coffee, and rice. Leading a $35 million round for the company, Blue Horizon is backing Tropic Biosciences to be an agricultural-biotechnology leader at the forefront of a $400 billion market.  Tropic Biosciences is focused on a portfolio of popular but problematic crops: bananas, coffee, and rice. Coffee is the most consumed beverage globally after water, while banana is the most consumed fruit in the world. Rice accounts for roughly 25% of global calorie consumption, therefore Tropic claims the combined total market that it addresses could be valued at $400 billion.            With climate change reducing farming yields and contributing to the outbreak …

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James Cromwell Starbucks Protest NYC

©PETA

Society

James Cromwell’s Starbucks Protest Sparks Global Conversation on Chain’s Plant-Based Milk Fees

In a widely publicized event, actor James Cromwell protested Starbucks on May 10 by supergluing his hand to a counter in one of the coffee chain’s NYC stores. Wearing an animal rights T-shirt, Cromwell and other activists demanded Starbucks end its long-standing practice of charging extra for plant-based milk options. The PETA-organized demonstration received worldwide media coverage, and provoked lively social media conversations about the fairness of Stabucks’ extra fees for non-dairy milk. The protest marks an escalation in pressure tactics by PETA, which has actively campaigned against Starbucks’ vegan milk policies in recent years. In April, music icon and PETA supporter Sir Paul McCartney wrote an open letter urging former Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson to drop the dairy-free surcharge at the company’s US locations. …

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Laird Superfood Bright Cups

©Laird Superfood

Beverages

Laird Superfood Launches Bright Cups – Compostable Coffee Pods Made With 85% Coffee Waste

Laird Superfood, a leading brand of functional coffee and superfood creamers, announces it has entered the single-use coffee pod category with Bright Cups. An eco-friendly alternative to conventional coffee pods, Bright Cups are compatible with most single-serve coffee machines and made from plant-derived, BPI-certified materials. Bright Cups are currently available online through Laird’s website and on Amazon starting in May. Bright Cups features Laird’s best-selling Focus Mushroom Coffee, made from high-altitude coffee beans, blended with Lion’s Mane mushroom extracts and adaptogens.  Coffee chaff According to the brand, about 12 billion single-serve coffee pods are purchased every year, with the great majority ending up as waste in landfills. To reduce the environmental impact of Bright Cups, the pods are composed of 85% coffee chaff – the natural …

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MINOR_FIGURES_CAFE

©Minor Figures

Company News

Alt Milk Brand Minor Figures Becomes B Corp Certified

Minor Figures, the UK’s No.1 fastest-growing alt milk brand with products available in over 40 countries, announces it is now one of 4,856 B Corps around the world. The news comes weeks after the company announced it is expecting 100% YOY growth in revenue for the next three years, following a year of sustained growth and an RSV increase of £9million. In terms of sustainability, the company says it offsets 100% of its carbon emissions by investing in carbon credits to support carbon removal projects, including: Shade Grown Coffee Project, Nicaragua, Bamboo Aforestation Project, Nicaragua, and Chinchiná River Forestry Project, Colombia, which work to restore biodiversity, reforestation, and support local communities. Additionally, Minor Figures began a scheme last September to place oat m*lk refill stations …

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Tim Horton's Adds Chobani Oat Milk

©Tim Horton's

Products & Launches

Canadian Coffee Chain Tim Hortons Adds Chobani Oat Milk to 4,000 Locations

Canadian Coffee Chain Tim Hortons Adds Chobani Oat Milk to 4,000 Locations Tim Hortons, Canada’s largest quick-service restaurant chain, announced Chobani oat milk is now available across the company’s 4,000 Canadian locations. The oat-based alternative is lactose and gluten-free and can be added to any hot or iced beverage.  The oat milk will also be featured in two limited-time releases, the Cinnamon Caramel Oat Latte and Cinnamon Caramel Oat Cold Brew, available at participating restaurants. “We’re happy to be serving Chobani oat beverage and giving our guests another option so they can personalize their coffee and other beverage orders just how they like it,” says Hope Bagozzi, Chief Marketing Officer for Tim Hortons. Tim Hortons is the latest major coffee chain to incorporate oat milk …

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VTT Research Coffee

Elviira Kärkkäinen ©VTT Research

Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Finland: Wake Up and Smell the Cell-Cultured Coffee!

Coffee cells have been successfully produced by scientists in Finland using cellular agriculture. The innovation, coming from the land that drinks the most coffee per capita in the world, could help make the future production of coffee considerably more sustainable. Scientists at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland produced the coffee cells in a bioreactor utilizing cellular agriculture – the process in which cell cultures floating in bioreactors can be filled with nutrient medium and used to produce various animal- and plant-based products. The team claims that the first batches produced smell and taste like conventional coffee. Increasing demand, coupled with sustainability challenges and ethical concerns, is rendering traditional coffee agriculture wholly unsustainable. Development and market entry of such cellular agriculture, however, currently hinges …

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Paulig

©Paulig

Beverages

Coffee Giant Paulig Announces Plans to Become a Sustainable Frontrunner in Food & Beverage Industry

Paulig has announced an ambitious sustainability approach with the aim to become a sustainable frontrunner in the Food & Beverage industry. The Finnish company’s ambition is for 70% of its net sales to come from products and services which enable the health and well-being of people and the planet by 2030.

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coffe shop barista

© Wordley Calvo Stock - stock.adobe.com

Market & Trends

Alpro Research Finds Vegan Milk is Mainstream in British Coffee Shops

Belgium company Alpro, which has been creating the milk alternatives for nearly 40 years, has conducted a survey and found that 48% of coffee drinkers in the UK, now drink coffee with plant-based milk when they are on the go. These dairy-free milks include coconut, soy, and almond. In total, around 21 million plant-based coffees are served in the UK every week.

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Lush Cosmetics

© LUSH GmbH Fresh Handmade Cosmetics

Gastronomy & Food Service

Lush: “Coffee for Free” in Vegan Pop-Up Coffee Shop #carrythecup

“The reduction of our dependence on plastics has been at the forefront of Lush’s innovations for 23 years,” says a statement from vegetarian cosmetics manufacturer Lush to Plant Based News. Now, the public is to be made aware of this via a campaign offering free coffee from sustainable cups. From August 14th, there will be a vegan pop-up coffee shop for one month at Lush Soho Studio in London with the slogan #carrythecup. Coffee, iced coffee and tea will be available for free if visitors bring their own reusable cups. Lush Soho Studio Manager Michal O’Brien told Plant Based News: “Beyond cosmetics, there are habits we can break and simple changes we can make to reduce or remove disposable plastics from our lives. By turning …

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