Green Day rockers go green on coffee pods
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Oakland Coffee Works, owned by Green Day’s Mike Dirnt and Billie Joe Armstrong, has introduced the first coffee packaging made of certified compostable materials to four Bay Area Costco stores, on Costco.com and on Amazon.com.
“First there was diner coffee, then there was second wave coffee, like Starbucks, and then came the third wave with artisanal coffee – but this is the next step: organic, truly high-quality coffee that fairly supports the farmers who grow it and that comes in packaging made from fully compostable materials,” said Mike Dirnt, a long-time coffee enthusiast and bassist for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Green Day. “It’s no-compromise coffee in no-compromise packaging.”
Mike, Billie Joe and the Oakland Coffee team went looking for sustainable solutions as they were developing their brand. They were intentional in the impact they wanted to make: to offer sustainably farmed, damn good organic coffee, and to do business differently. They wanted to support the farmers and their communities, and offer products with a minimal footprint on the environment.
But there was a problem: No one made a coffee bag from certified compostable materials that functioned like a conventional bag.
Oakland Coffee teamed up with San Francisco Bay Coffee Company who were on a similar mission: to find (and fund) compostable packaging that would change the game on waste and challenge the industry to change, too.
A three-pack of Oakland Coffee’s Gardenista blend – in 12-oz coffee bags made from fully compostable materials – is available at four Bay Area Costco stores for under $20. A pair of 3-packs (that’s six 12oz bags total) will also be available on Costco.com for under $45. Single 12-oz bags of the organic Atomic Garden blend are available on Amazon.com.
The two coffee companies say they have bigger plans beyond this initial release. They have developed the first single-serve pods made from fully compostable materials and will be releasing them in the coming weeks. Oakland Coffee’s pod made from fully compostable materials will be available in stores and online at Amazon.com in coming weeks. San Francisco Bay Coffee’s pods made from fully compostable materials are expected to land on Costco shelves and in other retail and online stores in early 2017.