Cambio Roasters is a Keurig coffee pod company that has been making waves in the market by introducing eco-friendly innovations, with the main one being their aluminum coffee pods. Founded in 2018 by Kevin Hartley and Ann Hutson, the South Carolina-based coffee company is taking over a market where customers are increasingly concerned with the impact the products they purchase have on the environment. Today, we’ll have a look at how Cambio Roasters has managed to earn this place of prominence amongst coffee consumers and what their 100% recyclable coffee pod had to do with it.
A Response to an Urgent Problem
Prior to founding Cambi Roasters, Kevin Hartley was the Chief Innovation Officer at Keurig Green Mountain®, an experience that gave him an insider’s perspective on the environmental consequences of single-serve coffee pods, as well as insights into what could be done about it. With an estimated 40 million plastic pods ending up in U.S. landfills every day, the need for sustainable alternatives was clear. So, determined to address this growing issue, Hartley partnered with marketing expert Ann Hutson to create Cambio Roasters.
Cambio’s aluminum pods are Hartley’s answer to the problem of single use plastics in the coffee industry, and offer a practical solution to this problem. Unlike plastic, aluminum is infinitely recyclable, meaning that after use, the pods can always be either cleaned and reused, or melted down and made into new pods. Combine that witht the fact that Cambio already ensures that 30% of their pods are made from already-recycled materials and you have a product that successfully divorces single use plastics from coffee consumption.
Leading by Example
The success of Cambo Roaster’s Aluminum coffee pod has prompted competitors to go back to the drawing boards and explore more sustainable packaging options in order to keep up, as success in the American coffee market has become contingent on the companies’ ability to produce innovations aimed at sustainability. According to recent research, 70% of consumers would be willing to pay a premium for products that were made and packaged with sustainability in mind. And now, with Cambio’s products now available in over 1,000 stores, including major retailers like Walmart and Harris Teeter, the pressure for the rest of the market to embrace sustainability has never been greater.
Supporting Coffee Farming Communities
Cambio’s commitment to change doesn’t stop with the environment either, as their business model also focuses on fair trade and ethical business practices, especially with the farming communities responsible for coffee bean production. Through a profit-sharing initiative, the company dedicates 20% of its profits to supporting these coffee farming families, an initiative that, combine with their partnerships with organizations like Food 4 Farmers, directly impacts the livelihoods of approximately 10,000 coffee growers. In fact, Hartley and Hutson have personally visited farms in Colombia and Costa Rica, building relationships and deepening their understanding of the challenges faced by those farmers.
The Road Ahead
While Cambio Roasters current achievements are more than impressive by themselves, Kevin Hartley and Ann Hutson remain focused on expanding the reach and influence of their company even further in order to continue to guide the market towards a greener future.
And you can help make that change happen. Every customer that drops single-use plastic coffee pods for sustainable alternatives like Cambio Roasters helps shift the tide of demand in favor of the environment. So if you feel like helping, visit The Cambio Roasters website or search for them on Amazon to stock up on some top quality sustainable coffee.
