Coffee is the second most consumed beverage in the world, with 2.6 billion cups consumed daily. However, its production also results in a significant amount of waste, around
20 million tonnes per year from coffee cherries . This is both damaging to the environment and a problem for manufacturers, who have to dispose of about 45% of the coffee cherries (also called cascara). For this reason, the company
PectCof (Pectin from Coffee) has found a sustainable solution to this problem.
In a new market, there are always many challenges and for PectCof, one of these
challenges lies in the manufacturing process . When the customer requirement changes, the product has to be changed thereby also altering the process. Furthermore, in the industry,
innovative circular economy products are sustainable but
difficult to scale . However, with the amount of residual flows from coffee production, PectCof aims to achieve this goal to make a real difference.
Sustainable raw material for the food industry
Dutch Gum is extracted from the coffee cherry, or cascara (spanish: husk), the
by-product and waste product of coffee production . While some of the pulp is used as compost, much of it is discarded, posing a significant environmental problem. In the production of Dutch Gum, the harvested coffee cherry is
separated from the bean by farmers in the country of origin before the coffee bean is roasted. The cascara is then
dry ground and shipped to Europe where
valuable substances are extracted .
PectCof has therefore set itself the task of solving this problem in a way that is sustainable in every aspect, because companies often advertise products made of bioplastics that require a lot of water and energy which harms the environment.