A Brief History of Coffee and Development of Encapsulated Coffee
The history of coffee bean origin has always been a remarkable story. The bean has travelled across the world for centuries, got smuggled out from protective countries, stolen from royalty, and changed the entire economies of nations. It’s fascinating how one small bean from wild trees in Yemen and Ethiopia has become the 2nd largest trading commodity in the world. While you might be well aware of the coffee world origin and the different flavours, even the most seasoned coffee connoisseurs know little about the history of encapsulated coffee beans.
Have you ever wondered who invented the popular Nespresso capsules, or the K-Cups? Are encapsulated coffee pods safe for the environment? Is now the time we swap to compostable coffee pods? Well, we break it down all for you.
The History Behind Coffee Capsule
The invention of the coffee capsule has changed the coffee making industry and revolutionalised how people drink coffee today. Over the past years, coffee capsules have registered increased popularity to become one of the few distinctive beverages of choice. While traditional ways of brewing coffee remain in use to a lesser extent, the Nespresso system has beyond doubt become the easiest and most efficient way to fix our morning caffeine. In fact, fixing a cup of espresso coffee takes me about 25 seconds, giving a delicate, concentrated, and brown shot of crema.
The concept behind Nespresso was hatched and patented by Mr Eric Favre in 1976. It was a simple but revolutionary concept that aimed to enable anyone in the world to prepare a perfect cup of coffee that tasted just like that of skilled baristas. Through the Nespresso concept, millions of people have changed the way they make their morning fix and their understanding of coffee bean origin.
Eric Favre was an employee of Nestle when he got agitated by how long it took the coffee making machines to prepare his favourite cup of coffee. He then realised that by adding more pressure into the machine, the waiting time shortened and the resulting coffee was more abundant in crema. After patenting his discovery, Favre introduced his system into the market. The Swiss market displayed no significant success, but with the help of Jean-Paul Gaillard, the product rolled out in Japan, Italy, and France registering success.
Nestle signed different contracts in every country that it was operating in efforts to gain more market share. Such agreements were signed with Philips, Siemens, Alessi, Magimix, and Krups. These organisations started to sell Nespresso machines, and a decade later, the brand had gained a significant market share. Nespresso then opened a concept store boutique in Paris in 2000. The Nespresso capsules were sold exclusively by Nespresso, which forced the company to launch an e-commerce store. One of the key selling points was that the encapsulated coffee did not degrade its aroma like other packed coffees in the market at the time.
The Arrival of K-Cup
After seeing the success of Nespresso single-serves in the European market, Keurig, a coffee machine manufacturing company based in the United States, embarked on designing today’s famous K-Cup pods. These single-serve K-cups were introduced in the US market in 1998. The main focus was in the office niche, but after the surge in popularity, the company launched its first home use brewers in 2004.
In 2011 and 2012, Nespresso and Keurig’s main patent expired, respectively. This led to competitors manufacturing newer brewer models that only accepted pods from Nespresso and Keurig brands. Nespresso Company was not pleased with this behaviour and filed a court case against such competitors but lost the battle in 2013.
Admission of Guilt to Environmental Damage by Nespresso and K-Cup
“No matter what they say about recycling, those things will never be recyclable. The plastic is a specialised plastic containing four different layers,” said John Sylvan, creator of the K-Cup.
It’s due to such hilarious, publicly-made comments that fuelled anger among various groups of environmentalists. In recent years, concerns have increased over the extent of damage caused by the disposal of K-Cup and Nespresso pods in the environment. The K-cup and Nespresso owners later admitted that their creations had contributed and still contributes to environmental damage by filling the landfills with stacks of aluminium. Each capsule produces 1gram of aluminium waste.
It’s estimated that between 1998 and 2012, Nespresso pods made up about 1% of the total waste in the landfill of Germany and Switzerland. The main contributing factor is that the standard recycling programs do not accept single-serve coffee pods. The capsules are too small to pass through the sieve during the sorting process. It’s evident that the impact of those pods on the environment is pushing our world towards a nuclear borderline, gradually.
Subsequent Sustainable Measures
The “Kill the K-Cups” 2013 campaign drew much support among various user groups globally. In response, both Keurig and Nespresso made quick advancements to curb the environmental damage they were causing. According to a report made in 2017 by Nespresso, the company set up capsule recycling systems in 36 countries with plans underway to go global.
Were these efforts fruitful as we may think? Despite making it possible to recycle capsules, it was reported that only 24.6% of the Nespresso capsules were recycled globally in 2017. Nespresso affirms to its users that it has the capacity to recycle 100% of its capsules. But is that enough? Well, I think we need biodegradable packaging that is far more efficient?
The Current State of Sustainability
A brief history of coffee tells us that coffee production and consumption was a once sustainable process that synched in harmony with the environment. Starting from when our ancestors discovered the power of Yemen coffee, the consumption practices have gone from good, bad, and now ugly. However, all hope seems not lost.
There have been remarkable advancements and inventions as coffee companies race to develop biodegradable and compostable capsule packaging. One excellent option could be swapping to the compostable coffee pods, such as from Halo Coffee.
Compostable capsules are categorised into two: industrial and home certified. Industrial compostable pods require exposure to certain conditions to breakdown. Home-certified compostable pods are the best alternatives that coffee lovers can look up to. However, the technology is still in the early stages for most companies. It’s also expensive, and the costs trickle down to the consumer. A few companies such as Halo coffee have, however, been able to introduce Nespresso compatible compostable pods that can withstand the pressure in the brewer machines.
Efforts are still underway to make compostable coffee pods the absolute future of coffee capsule packaging. Currently, there are numerous biodegradable pods alternatives out there, but those materials take about two years to disintegrate in the landfill. But isn’t that better than filling our land with tones of aluminium? I think it is!
Take Responsibility
It’s our duty as coffee lovers to make sure that our coffee addiction does not poison the environment that we so love. Right from the coffee world origin and estates, what personal and collective measures can we implement? Can farmers stop supplying Nespresso with coffee beans until there are better recycling systems? That’s quite impossible. It’s, therefore, a matter of collective responsibility, from coffee brewers and down to us to make sure we practice sustainable coffee drinking habits. The next time you brew your favourite cup of Yemen coffee, think about what you could be doing to the environment.
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