Share your coffee stories with us by writing to info@comunicaffe.com.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA — San Francisco Bay Coffee has produced 130 million commercially compostable single-serve coffee pods this year, representing a significant portion of the company’s total output of 40.9 million pounds of roasted coffee, enough to fill approximately 250 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The company’s OneCUP pods are manufactured from plant-based materials. Unlike conventional single-serve pods made from petrochemical plastics, these pods carry BPI certification for commercial composting, breaking down within 84 days under industrial composting conditions.
Consumer data reveals French Roast as the year’s top-selling blend, followed by Organic Rainforest Blend and Fog Chaser. Dark roast profiles dominated sales across all varieties.
The production milestone coincides with the expansion of the company’s Café Rentable Farmer training program, which provided education to 11,087 coffee farmers this year. The initiative focuses on sustainable farming practices at the coffee’s origin.
Single-serve coffee pods have faced scrutiny for contributing to plastic waste in landfills and oceans. The plant-based alternative requires commercial composting facilities, which vary by region. The company advises consumers to verify the capabilities of local facilities, as not all municipal composting programs accept BPI-certified materials.
The pods contain no major allergens and are made from food-grade materials approved for use with consumables. Both the pods and their packaging bags meet commercial composting standards, though they are suitable for home composting or traditional recycling systems.
The shift toward plant-based pod production reflects broader pressure on the single-serve coffee sector to address environmental concerns while maintaining the convenience that has driven category growth. Commercial composting infrastructure remains unevenly distributed, potentially limiting the ecological benefit in areas without access to certified facilities.
