Smile Beverage Werks’ K-Cup compatible coffee pod earns USDA certification as a biobased product

Darien, CT-based Smile Beverage Werks said it has earned the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Certified Biobased Product label for its coffee pods compatible with Keurig’s K-Cup brewers.

Third-party verification for a product's biobased content is administered through the USDA BioPreferred Program, an initiative created by the 2002 Farm Bill, and recently reauthorized by the 2018 version, SBW explained. 

One of the goals of the BioPreferred Program is to increase the development, purchase and use of biobased products.

The USDA Certified Biobased Product label displays a product's biobased content, which is the portion of a product that comes from a renewable source, such as plant, animal, marine, or forestry feedstocks. Using renewable, biobased materials displaces the need for non-renewable petroleum-based chemicals. 

"Products from Smile Beverage Werks are contributing to an ever-expanding marketplace that adds value to renewable agriculture commodities, creates jobs in rural communities, and decreases our reliance on petroleum,” said Vernell Thompson, a USDA BioPreferred Program official.

SBW cofounder Frank Shuster added, "Smile Beverage Werks is committed to increasing awareness and availability of more environmentally sustainable packaging options for everyday use.”

Smile Beverage Werks is a Delaware public benefits corporation that makes compostable food and beverage packaging, including single-use coffee pods, which were developed by entrepreneur Michael Sands and green construction expert Frank Schuster.

SBW said it produces the only commercially and certified compostable Keurig- and Nespresso-compatible pods that do not require any additional film for shelf life or separation of lid, filter and grounds for disposal.