AWARD YEAR
2021
CATEGORY
Community
GOALS
No Poverty, Decent Work & Economic Growth, Responsible Consumption & Production, Partnerships for the Goals, Innovative Financial System
KEYWORDS
upcycling, sustainable agriculture, sustainable products, circular thinking
COUNTRY
Denmark
DESIGNED BY
Twisted Leaf, Jens Kajus
WEBSITE
https://www.twistedleaf.dk/
Twisted Leaf
Twisted Leaf turns a natural waste product - coffee leaves - into great tasting beverages
Coffee leaves are a natural waste product arising when coffee farmers prune and stomp their trees in order to rejuvenate the tree into increasing yield output and coffee cherry quality. This cultivation method is broadly applied across the coffee growing belt around the world. However, with a few exceptions coffee farmers burn or compost their left over coffee leaves.
In 2017 the founders of Twisted Leaf (TL) discovered that coffee leaves due to their unique bioactive components such as natural caffeine, antioxidants and low bitterness are tremendous to produce naturally refreshing, low calorie and almost no sugar beverages.
In July 2020 at the behest of TL The European Commission finally approved TL's Novel Food application enabling the commercialization of beverages based on coffee leaves.
This is not only a win for TL but a watershed approval for millions of smallholder coffee farmers that provide them with a new crop and much-needed secondary that doubles their annual income