Coles has become the first major Australian retailer to launch its own home compostable coffee capsules, which have been released as part of its Coles Urban Coffee Culture brand.
The Coles Urban Coffee Culture Organic Home Compostable Pods, made with bio-sourced cellulose and vegetable oils, can be composted in home compost bins, where they break down in about the same amount of time as an orange peel.
The pods can be used in machines designed for Nespresso-style coffee pods and have been certified by the Australasian Bioplastics Association. They are now available in Coles supermarkets.
The sustainable packaging innovation comes as the pandemic sparked a major shift in coffee drinking habits, with more people opting for convenience while working from home. Over the past two years, coffee pod sales at Coles have spiked by 30 per cent. Over the same period, pure coffee also saw increases of 30 per cent, while all-in-one sachet coffee rose by 20 per cent.
Coles general manager Grocery, Leanne White, said she was pleased to be able to help customers find a more sustainable way to dispose of coffee capsules at home.
“Coles is always looking for ways to make supermarket Own Brand and Coles Liquor’s exclusive products more eco-friendly and sustainable for shoppers,” she said.
“Customers love the convenience of pod-based coffee machines and being able to make café style coffee at home but want a better solution for dealing with the used pods which can be difficult to recycle.”
White said that Coles chose to work with suppliers to find a coffee pod solution that can be composted at home because few councils accept compostable packaging in their food and organics waste bin.
“Composting at home is also a great way for our customers to reduce the amount of food waste going into landfill,” she said. “Compostable coffee pods allow Coles to provide coffee-lovers a more sustainable solution, while still delivering a delicious quality brew.”
Each of the suppliers Coles works with to source Coles Urban Coffee Culture beans is also Rainforest Alliance certified. The Rainforest Alliance seal means that farmers follow more sustainable farming practices that protect forests, improve their livelihoods, promote human rights of farm workers, and help them mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.
As part of our sustainability strategy, Coles is working Together to Zero Waste with our customers and suppliers, including though our goal of all Own Brand product packaging being 100 per cent recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.
Coles is also making it easier for customers to recycle by including the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) on Coles Own Brand Products. The ARL is currently on over 4,000 Coles Own Brand and Coles Own Liquor Brand products.
Coles was last year ranked second out of 62 food retailers globally for sustainable business practices in the World Benchmarking Alliance’s 2021 Food and Agriculture Benchmark, the highest ranking for an Australian supermarket.
Coles Urban Coffee Culture compostable pods are now available at Coles supermarkets nationally, priced at $4.50 for a pack of ten.