Calgary coffee company finds green way to deliver java jolt

CALGARY- A local start-up is taking over the coffee marketplace—one cup at a time.

Kienna Coffee Roasters prides itself on being able to experiment with exotic beans, offering about 500 blends.

“We bring in coffee from over 15 different countries, and when you take one country and mix it with another one and roast it a little darker or a little lighter, you can imagine there are a lot of different options,” explains roaster Rob Lehnert. “We are adding a couple new blends like Rattlesnake Blend, Kienna Vienna.

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“We are always trying to develop new blends, new taste profiles for our customers…on top of that we are adding a new fair trade organic line.”

But on top of experimenting with tastes, they’ve also come up with an environmentally-friendly way to deliver their brews.

“We have taken three million plastic capsules out of the landfill,” says Ian Rudkin, from Kienna Coffee Roasters.

It’s all thanks to their ‘Kienna Cup’ which fits nicely into Keurig coffee machines, and is completely recyclable. The pods themselves are even compostable.

“Consumers are adopting a better way with an environmentally-friendly platform, that gives us a way for them to try our coffee everyday in their homes, in their offices,” Rudkin adds.

The company has sold 50-thousand Kienna Cups in just over a year, and are planning a new facility to keep up with growing demand.