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Connecting customers directly to coffee producers 
CategoriesSustainable News

Connecting customers directly to coffee producers 

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: An estimated 95 per cent of coffee farmers are smallholders, and they rarely earn a living from the crop, despite the global market being worth almost $500 billion (around €461 billion). Part of the difficulty in raising growers’ income comes from the expensive equipment required to process and roast the beans. Being able to sell processed and roasted beans – instead of untreated ones – would enable farmers to charge more and therefore earn much more for every crop they grow.

Honduran company Spirit Animal Coffee is working to rebalance that disparity between production and consumption prices by selling locally roasted, organic, speciality coffees to discerning customers around the world. The company pays an appropriate, sustainable rate for coffee grown by small-scale, family-run farms and then roasts the beans at its roastery in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. With Spirit Animal Coffee, farmers get to taste the final product made from their crops – often for the first time – allowing them to give ideas about how to improve quality and flavours with different growing techniques.

Spirit Animal Coffee roasts beans once a week, and then 48 hours later, ships all orders out via UPS Air. By using air freight, rather than shipping via sea on weeks-long voyages, Spirit Animal Coffee arrives fresh and ready for immediate consumption. Because the farmers the company works with grow organically, there are no concerns regarding pesticide use, and all the coffee is tested for mycotoxins before shipping.

The coffee is available from the company’s online shop, as well as via subscription. Subscriptions are available in one, two, three, and four-week intervals, and customers can choose how many bags they would like with each delivery. Because Spirit Animal Coffee works directly with growers, customers can easily find out who grows their favourite brew and, with each order, know that they are contributing to a more equitable economy.

Spirit Animal Coffee also has a longer-term plan to continue helping smallholders diversify the types of beans they grow and grow their income. Called the Geisha project, sales of the hard-to-grow speciality coffee bring in additional income that farmers use to improve their land and growing methods. Geisha coffee brings in some of the highest global prices for coffee, with a single cup costing around $100 (around €92.23).

Other innovations in the coffee industry showcased in Springwise’s library include coffee made from non-tropically grown natural ingredients such as cereals, fruits, and legumes, and the upcycling of waste grounds for use in vegan health and beauty products.

Written By: Keely Khoury

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Bottlecup is a two-in-one reusable water bottle and coffee cup
CategoriesSustainable News

Bottlecup is a two-in-one reusable water bottle and coffee cup

By Zarkon Group,

London studio Seymourpowell has combined an insulated water bottle and a cup with a lid into a single product, Bottlecup, so users only need to remember one item when leaving the house.

The owners of Bottlecup, Kate and Mark Arnell, asked multidisciplinary agency Seymourpowell to help them create a single item that could replace both disposable water bottles and coffee cups.

They found that approximately 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups are used and then thrown away each year in the UK, with only one in 400 of those being recycled.

Bottlecup in apricot colour
The product combines a vacuum-insulated bottle with a lidded cup

Recognising that reusable-cup owners often forget to carry their vessel with them, they looked for a way to unite a vacuum-insulated bottle with a lidded cup that can be used for takeaway drinks.

The project team identified that existing reusable bottles or flasks on the market either didn’t provide a cup lid, or didn’t allow the bottle and cup to be used independently of one another.

“Bottlecup innovated to combine a reusable water bottle and reusable cup and cup lid into one seamless item, where both items functioned in their fullest independently of each other without compromise,” the designers explained.

Visual of combined cup and bottle
The cup can be used on its own

The stainless-steel water bottle slots inside the cup and twists to lock it in place when carrying both items. The two elements each feature a gently curved silhouette that improves their ergonomic properties.

The cup can be released with a simple twist and used on its own or with the silicone lid, which is stored in its base so users don’t need to carry it separately when drinking beverages such as smoothies, beer or soups.

The silicone waist provides a tactile surface for holding the product, which makes twisting the cup on and off easier. The coloured band also prevents liquid from leaking into the user’s bag when the two elements are united.

A variety of colour options for the silicone band and cup lid allows Bottlecup to be personalised by selecting a favourite hue when purchasing the product. The cup is also available in a range of colours or in plain stainless steel.

Removable Bottlecup lid
A silicone lid is stored in the base

Sustainability and circular design were key concerns throughout the project, leading to the creation of a product that is plastic-free and uses no mixed materials so all of the component parts can be easily recycled.

“Designing without plastic meant features like push-close lids and mouldable rigid shapes were all restricted from the design,” the project team explained.

“The majority stainless-steel finish has a satisfyingly engineered and qualitative feel,” it added.

Bottles and cup designs by Seymourpowell
The design is available in a range of colours

The 18/8 stainless steel used for the bottle and cup can be collected by curbside recycling services, while the band and cup lid are made from food-grade silicone that can be returned to Bottlecup to be recycled responsibly.

Bottlecup features on the shortlist for the product design (consumer design and wearables) category at Dezeen Awards 2023, alongside projects including the latest version of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip smartphone and a bicycle that can easily switch between analogue and electric riding modes.

Other designs that respond to the issue of waste generated by disposable drinking cups include biodegradable cups made using home-grown vegetables and a circular-economy service called Cupclub that supplies and then recycles its own reusable coffee cups.

Reference

‘Coffee-free coffee’ for a sustainable morning brew 
CategoriesSustainable News

‘Coffee-free coffee’ for a sustainable morning brew 

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Global demand for coffee, particularly certified and organic products, continues to grow. At the same time, climate-change-induced weather alterations are making production more difficult. Unusually, both Brazil and Colombia experienced drops in production in the coffee year 2021 to 2022 due to unfavourable weather conditions. Coffee plants are particularly sensitive to changes in climate, causing coffee growers to frequently expand further into the rainforest when current arable locations become less suitable for growing.  

As lovers of coffee who hate the impact its production has on the world’s forests, Dutch food technologists Northern Wonder have created a coffee made from non-tropically grown natural ingredients. Using combinations of roasted cereals, roots, fruits, and legumes, the company produces both caffeinated and non-caffeinated versions of its coffee. 

Currently two products are available. A filter blend and industrially compostable capsules that are compatible with Nespresso machines are for sale on the Northern Wonder website. An espresso blend and cold brew versions are both in development, and Northern Wonder has two patents pending for its technology. 

The full ingredient list for each coffee is listed online, and the Northern Wonder team is clear that the current products are only the first batch. The company ships worldwide and has plans to offer the products via retail partners at a later date.  

Research and development for products and the entire life cycle of the coffee continues with partners that include Wageningen University & Research and the World Food Center lab. An initial Life Cycle Assessment of Northern Wonder coffee found a much smaller emissions and water and land use footprint than tropically grown coffees.  

Other recent innovations in the coffee industry from Springwise’s archive include a new way to recycle capsules and new manufacturing uses for waste grounds.  

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Creating biochar from wastewater, organic waste, and coffee cups
CategoriesSustainable News

Creating biochar from wastewater, organic waste, and coffee cups

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The volume of edible food waste created around the world is estimated to be 1.3 billion tonnes a year, with a lot of that ending up in landfills. Once in landfill, this waste breaks down and releases CO2 into the atmosphere. While some are doing important work to reduce the amount of material that ends up in landfills, Edinburgh-based Carbogenics is going in another direction and turning this waste into a material that is useful in multiple agricultural and industrial processes.

The company produces a product called CreChar. This is a type of biochar – a carbon-rich, porous material that can be used to enhance the production of biogas from food and farming waste. While most biochar is made from virgin wood, Carbogenics’ process uses organic waste, such as wastewater screenings and difficult-to-recycle food, farm, and paper waste instead.

CreChar is made by heating biomass in the absence of oxygen. This process, known as pyrolysis, produces carbon-rich biochar alongside oil, synthetic gas (syngas), and heat. This versatile material could be a gamechanger for the biogas and wastewater treatment sectors, but it can also be used as a plant fertiliser and for soil restoration and carbon sequestration. When used in place of biochar in biogas production, for example, CreChar increases biogas yields by up to 15 per cent.

At the same time, because the carbon locked in CreChar during its production process cannot easily be broken down by microorganisms, it can be sequestered in the material for hundreds or thousands of years.

Carbogenics recently secured £1 million (around €1.2 million) in investment from Green Angel Ventures, Scottish Enterprise and Old College Capital. The funds will be used to build a production and research and development (R&D) facility in Scotland. It’s anticipated the facility will be operational by the end of Q1 in 2024.

Researchers are working on a number of projects that aim to maximise the efficiency of converting biomass to energy. In the archive, Springwise has also spotted a project at EPLF that uses food waste in the pyrolysis process, as well as a small-scale biowaste processor that turns food waste into cooking gas and compost.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

A platform for recycling coffee capsules
CategoriesSustainable News

A platform for recycling coffee capsules

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Coffee is a popular drink, and the market continues to grow, with an increasing number of people turning to the convenience of coffee pods at home and at work. The problem with these capsules is that very few are recycled, with leading coffee brand Nespresso estimating that only 30 per cent of its consumers recycle the pods. One of the main stumbling blocks in recycling coffee capsules are the grounds that remain in the pod after it has been used. 

Spanish company Recycap is making it easier for home users to recycle both the capsules themselves and leftover grounds with its React (Recycap Automated Coffee Technology) recycling device. Used pods are tossed into the device that then automatically cleans the capsules and separates the two materials for easier, more sustainable disposal. 

The grounds can be collected for composting, and the cleaned capsules become recyclable in standard facilities. By removing the need for recycling facilities to separate organic waste from metal, the React device could save billions of pieces of recyclable rubbish from ending up in landfill or being incinerated.  

The React device has the capacity to recycle up to 600 capsules per hour, making the technology convenient for large office buildings and in high traffic public spaces, such as grocery and convenience stores. Recycap has also created a coffee machine with the recycling technology integrated, so users can minimise the number of appliances they have on countertops. Available in red, black, or white, the coffee machine is compatible with most brands of coffee pods, making it easy to switch to a more sustainable brewing system. 

The startup recently raised €400,000 to further develop its technologies and get them on the market.

Other coffee-focused innovations that Springwise has spotted include car interiors made from coffee pulp and a platform that encourages environmentally responsible coffee bean production.  

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Keiji Ashizawa creates Blue Bottle Coffee shop in Kobe department store
CategoriesInterior Design

Keiji Ashizawa creates Blue Bottle Coffee shop in Kobe department store

By Zarkon Group,

Japanese studio Keiji Ashizawa Design has created the interior of the Blue Bottle Coffee shop in Kobe’s Hankyu department store, taking advantage of its display windows to connect the cafe with the street outside.

The 173-square-metre cafe, which shares the department store’s ground floor with a number of apparel brands, has five large display windows.

To open the coffee shop up towards the street, designer Keiji Ashizawa turned one of the windows into a take-out counter.

Window counter of Blue Bottle Coffee shop in Kobe
One display window was turned into a take-out counter

The remaining window niches were filled with blue built-in seating, creating a splash of colour among the wooden furniture.

Inside the cafe, square-shaped and rectangular furniture nods to the graphic look of the facade and is contrasted by round tables and large circular ceiling lights.

“The furniture is mainly made of domestic wood in collaboration with the Japanese furniture manufacturer Karimoku, who specializes in working with oak wood,” Ashizawa told Dezeen.

Interior of Hankyu Blue Bottle Coffee shop
Wooden furniture and terrazzo tabletops were used for the interior

The studio also mixed in terrazzo amongst the wooden furniture to give the cafe a welcoming feel.

“By placing a large terrazzo tabletop with fine textures created by mixing grounded glass into the material, it adds to the soft and welcoming atmosphere that identifies Blue Bottle Coffee and their hospitality,” Ashizawa said.

“It is also used for the low coffee table surrounded by the sofas, creating a sense of harmony and elegance throughout the space of the cafe,” he added.

While the studio was unable to change the material of the existing rough concrete floor, the department store allowed it to create a discrete demarcation by polishing the floor underneath the central tables.

Terrazzo table inside Blue Bottle Coffee shop
Circular pendant lights were made from raw aluminium

Large disc-shaped pendant lights add a sense of drama to the coffee shop’s pared-back design.

“With the idea of creating a high ceiling within the space, the pendant lights were made from raw aluminum to complement the industrial structures,” Ashizawa said.

“Six pendant lights are placed in the central space at equal distances in three zones, creating a sense of rhythm and spatial balance.”

Polished concrete floor in Blue Bottle Coffee shop
The concrete floor was polished in part of the cafe

The wooden furniture inside the Blue Bottle Coffe Hankyu cafe has mainly been kept in its natural colour, but Ashizawa added bright colour to some of the wood.

“In the space with concrete structures, the yellow color was added to balance the combination of wood and concrete, and the blue color was placed as a contrast,” he said.

“We also designed the space to fit in with the apparel brands that share the ground floor.”

Colourful shelving in Kobe cafe
Shelves were painted a bright yellow

Ashizawa has previously created a number of cafes for the Blue Bottle Coffee company, including a Shanghai store decorated with traditional Chinese roof tiles and a Tokyo outpost with a volcanic-ash counter.

The photography is by Tomooki Kengaku.

Project credits:

Architect: Keiji Ashizawa Design
Project architect: Keiji Ashizawa, Tomohiko Fujishita, Masaru Kiotya
Construction: Tank
Design supervision: Miyachi Office/Kunihiko Miyachi
Lighting design: Aurora/Yoshiki Ichikawa
Furniture: Karimoku Case Study/Ichinomaki Laboratory by Karimoku
Metal works: Super Robot

Reference

Keiji Ashizawa Design designs Blue Bottle Coffee outpost in Tokyo
CategoriesInterior Design

Keiji Ashizawa Design designs Blue Bottle Coffee outpost in Tokyo

By Zarkon Group,

Brick-like tiles with a volcanic ash glaze created by Formafantasma and textured concrete walls feature in this coffee shop in Shibuya, Tokyo, by Japanese studio Keiji Ashizawa Design.


Located a short walk from Tokyo’s busy downtown area, this Blue Bottle Coffee outpost was conceived as an urban retreat sandwiched between two parks.

It serves coffee during the day and appetisers and natural wine in the evenings.

Curving counter with brown tiles in Blue Bottle Coffee Shibuya
Brown tiles with a volcanic ash glaze feature throughout the interior of Blue Bottle Coffee Shibuya

Keiji Ashizawa Design, which also designed the coffee brand’s Yokohama outpost, wanted to create a warm and welcoming interior that brought the park surroundings into the glass-walled and concrete-floored space.

“It was a challenge to come up with a playful interior plan in this square two-storey building,” Ashizawa told Dezeen.

“The other challenge was to make links between the first and second floors, and the exterior and interior.”

Brown-tiled bar and wooden counter seating in coffee shop by Keiji Ashizawa Design
Counter seating runs along the wall of windows

To bring the outside in, the studio installed a large, curved tile counter that wraps around the cafe’s kitchen area and welcomes customers as they enter.

The brown tiles – developed as a collaboration between London material manufacturer Dzek, and the Amsterdam-based design studio Formafantasma – are finished with a special volcanic ash glaze.

Brow-tiled walls and wooden counter seating in Blue Bottle Coffee Shibuya
A single artisan laid all 7,000 tiles in the interior

A single skilled artisan laid more than 7,000 of the tiles in the cafe. As well as the counter, they cover a low coffee table and a wall in the upstairs lounge area. Ashizawa said the tiles were specifically chosen to connect the interior and exterior spaces.

“We wanted a park-like item as a key material which stands out in the interior but also makes a strong connection between first and second floor, and the exterior and interior at the same time,” explained Ashizawa.

Sunken seating area with orange pillows in coffee shop by Keiji Ashizawa Design
A sunken seating area is fringed in bench seating

“I thought that this tile, which has a brick-like colour, is an item reminiscent of parks in Japan,” he continued.

“Also, there is the fact that the soil from volcanic ash is a familiar material in this Kanto region, and I remember that the soil floor of the original Kitaya Park was also Kanto loam.”

In addition to the warm-coloured tiles, pink and orange textiles by Kvadrat, and wooden furniture by Karimoku, Ishinomaki Lab and Ariake add warmth to the largely glass and concrete interior.

On Blue Bottle Coffee’s ground floor, tables are set at differing heights. The high counter with stools allows customers to watch the barista preparing their coffee, while the lower table provides a good view of the park.

Sheer grey curtain over sunken seating area in Blue Bottle Coffee Shibuya
The seating area is obscured by a translucent grey curtain

More seating types are installed upstairs, including a lowered floor area with banquette seating upholstered in an autumnal orange textile. This space can be sectioned off from the main area by a grey, sheer curtain.

An oval dining table sits in the centre of the space providing a casual and communal dining option. A high counter table with a library-like light allows for quiet groups and singles to sit at the rear of the space.

Wooden benches outside coffee shop by Keiji Ashizawa Design
Wooden benches offer seating outside of the cafe

At the far end, a low, tiled coffee table is surrounded by comfortable lounge chairs and sofas upholstered in muted pink fabric.

A textured, brushed mortar finish has been applied to the cafe’s ceiling on the ground floor, and across a wall upstairs to help improve the acoustics in the space.

Timber-clad facade of Blue Bottle Coffee Shibuya
The furniture is in keeping with the buildings timber-clad facade

“When we plan cafes or restaurants, it is essential to think about acoustics,” said Ashizawa. “It is important that you can speak easily and that you can hear the music comfortably.”

“When we first saw the condition of the interior – the floor was made of concrete with glass walls. We definitely thought that we should leave the ceiling some kind of texture to promote sound absorption. At the same time, I thought that creating a feeling of touch in the space would have the effect of relaxing customers in the stressful city of Shibuya, like the greenery of a park.”

“We hope that visitors will enjoy the warm atmosphere as if they had been invited to visit the welcoming house of a close friend,” he concluded.

Photography is by Ben Richard and Masaaki Inoue.

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