Coffee Fruit: The Most Neglected Superfood You’ve Never Heard Of.
Every Year, twenty billion kilos of coffee fruit flies under the radar. Here’s what the founders of ‘I Am Grounded’ are doing to save it.
If you’ve spent any time on Pinterest, you’ve probably encountered a fun little thing called ‘upcycling’.
The concept is simple: you take something that’s been discarded, and reuse it in a way that gives it more value. It’s basically a makeover.
Up-cycling is typically associated with roadside furniture and thrift shop denim. But for young Brisbane couple Vanessa and Lachlan, rejected coffee fruit is filled with hidden potential. In 2018 they created their first ever ‘Coffee Fruit Bar’ and unlocked a world of possibilities. Now, this small but mighty snack is set to have a big, sustainable impact as it hits the shelves of cafes and health food stores this Winter.
“The idea came from a love for cooking, coffee and eating whole foods. As two young professionals we wanted to snack on functional healthy snacks, but we found the alternatives to be bland and powdery in taste. So we started using coffee fruit extract to create an on-the-go snack, and it ended up tasting delicious!”
Coffee fruit is the sweet, fruity component that cocoons the coffee beans we all know, drink, and love. Packed to the brim with plant micronutrients (healthy stuff that boosts your immune system, mood, and mental focus, just to name a few), coffee cherries sit right up there with blueberries and kale in the ‘superfood’ category.
But, unlike most popular nutrient-rich foods, these cherries fly fast under the radar. As coffee beans are produced, packed, and pumped across the world, these fruity byproducts are destined for a less fortunate fate:
“Twenty billion kilos of coffee fruit is wasted every year and thrown into landfill where it releases harmful toxins into the environment. Our bars help to reduce the waste in coffee farming by upcycling 70g of coffee fruit per bar”.
With roots established in the South American coffee world, Columbian-born Vanessa followed a very natural path toward the coffee and sustainable food industries:
“From as young as I could remember, our family would go on business trips together visiting coffee farms and cafes on our travels. I’ve had the pleasure of traveling around Colombia, Guatemala, Costa Rica and even Australia with my parents as they select crops, talk to farmers and discuss coffee. My father has always been very vocal and active in coffee sustainability as he also has a background in biotechnology and food science, which means that his interest in developing coffee byproducts was carried down to myself and ultimately to my partner Lachlan who is a civil engineer passionate about bio-waste.”
To turn their concept to reality, Vanessa and Lachlan juggled full-time jobs with months of research and testing before ‘I Am Grounded’ officially launched as a kickstarter campaign.
“Crowdfunding is an incredible way to validate your business idea or concept. It allows change agents and early adopters to back projects that ultimately get made or created with their help. This sense of customer accomplishment sat well with us as we took a non-traditional path to funding”.
This resourceful approach is filtered into many aspects of their business. From natural ingredients to sustainable packaging, Vanessa and Lachlan remain authentic to their original vision and purpose:
“We run our business very much the way we see the world, to celebrate the little things and not sweat the big things. The grounded philosophy [behind our business] is about finding your centre and being content in that.”
After a successful start the Coffee Fruit Bar is currently undergoing a second round of production. Once complete, these new and improved bars will be available to purchase. But for Vanessa and Lachlan, this is only the beginning.
“We aim to be change agents in upcycled food and have plans to create multiple products from byproducts not only in coffee but in other fruits and vegetables… Honestly every day is rewarding, and every milestone still gives us butterflies. We’re enjoying the journey and are so incredibly humbled and grateful for the chance to work on our business projects and ideas”.
With coffee consumption predicted to double by 2050, ‘I Am Grounded’ comes at a fitting time for an industry in dire need of innovation. As the duo discover new ways to upcycle food and byproducts, one message remains clear: be content, authentic, and keep creating a positive impact in this world. Oh, and don’t throw away the good stuff.
