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Coffee Cups Made from Old Recyclable Coffee Grounds

Having just opened our very own snack bar, inapinch, we’ve spent lots of time researching and sourcing cups, bags, and boxes for our to-go offerings. And now with New York potentially banning plastic straws, finding viable eco options for businesses that also highlight aesthetic and branding needs seems more relevant than ever.

So when we stumbled upon Berlin backyard start-up Kaffeeform, our faces lit up with delight! Product designer Julian Lechner became obsessed with trying to find a way to reuse coffee grounds to create a new material. After 3 years of experimentation, Kaffeeform was born by creating a new formula that creates new products out of old coffee. Lechner takes recycled coffee grounds and natural glues to create a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to products based on mineral oils. All Kaffeeform cups have the appearance of dark marblewood, smell of coffee, are very light, and finally, are dishwasher-friendly and long-lasting, so they can be used over and over again.

PRODUCT FEATURES:

– Dishwasher friendly
– Lightweight
– Durable
– High isolation qualities
– Slight coffee scent
– Food safe
– Free of BPA
– Eco-friendly material composite
– Made for unlimited consumption
– Each cup looks unique
– Carbon neutral disposal / Biodegradable

In 2018, Kaffeeform won the Red Dot product design award for it’s innovative material and process. The coffee grounds are collected in local coffee shops in Berlin and then dried, packed and shipped in through a sheltering workshop – a collaboration that is constantly growing over time.

We cannot wait to see more innovation like this, as more product designers turn to renewable sources as their inspiration for creating new products.

All images courtesy of kaffeeform.

TJ Girard is a sought-after food designer and creative consultant, celebrated for staging theatrical, interactive food + beverage experiences. She now resides in California where her creativity is solar powered! TJ writes the Design Milk column called Taste.