The supermarket giant has become the first major retailer to make the move, ensuring shoppers won’t notice any difference in taste.
Australians’ coffee habits have changed over the past two years, with an increase in sales of home coffee options spurred by restrictions and pandemic shutdowns.
For supermarket giant Coles, it saw a 30% increase in coffee pod sales and a 20% increase in sachet coffee as the country battled Covid-19.
And because of this, it decided to launch its own compostable coffee pod, making it the first major Australian retailer to do so.
“We know how much Australians love to drink quality coffee and the pandemic has really changed the way we drink our coffee,” Coles Grocery General Manager Leanne White told news.com.au.
“More and more people are looking for a convenient cafe-style cafe at home, as flexible working becomes the norm. With coffee pods becoming increasingly popular, we wanted to develop an option for environmentally conscious customers to dispose of their pods at home, rather than in their landfill bin.
The new Coles Urban Coffee Culture Organic home compostable pods are made with bio-based cellulose and vegetable oils – and break down in about the same time as an orange peel.
“We are always looking for ways to reduce problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic from Coles Own Brand products, and offering a home compostable coffee pod option is one way to do that,” Ms White continued.
She described it as a “game changer” for home coffee experiences and for those worried about whether the taste would be compromised, Ms White said it still had the “same great taste. .. but now with the added benefit of being home compostable”.
“We know that very few councils accept compostable packaging in their food and
organic waste bin, so we worked with our suppliers to come up with a coffee pod solution that customers can compost at home,” she said.
“Home composting is also a great way for our customers to reduce the amount of food waste going to landfill,” she added.
Meanwhile, Melbourne-based coffee company Grinders has also recently introduced compostable coffee capsules to its popular range.
Each of the coffee capsules is made from bio-based, compostable resin and is compatible with all “original” Nespresso coffee capsule machines.
The new Coles pods will mark the first time a major Australian retailer has produced a pod that customers can simply throw in their home compost bin.
“We’re sure customers will love the new home compostable coffee pods,” Leanne said.
Coles aims to have all of its own brand product packaging 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.
The pods, suitable for use in machines designed for Nespresso-style coffee pods, have been
certified by the Australasian Bioplastics Association and will be available from Coles supermarkets from April 4, priced at $4.50 for a pack of 10.
Originally published as Coles now has a game-changing coffee pod