Environmentally conscious consumers and companies are choosing to avoid palm oil as an ingredient because of the harm caused to tropical rainforests, indigenous communities and animals in the areas where palm oil is sourced—but innovative companies like Scotland's Revive Eco are developing palm oil substitutes. Revive Eco's creative alternative to palm oil is developed with spent coffee grounds. In just a few weeks, the company will be demonstrating its unit's ability to "convert 10kgs of coffee grounds an hour into oil."
As well as helping to avoid controversial palm oil altogether, this solution helps to make the most of a by-product from cafes and the coffee-making process that typically ends up going to waste.
Image Credit: Revive Eco
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Upcycled Ingredients
- Revive Eco's use of spent coffee grounds as a palm oil alternative highlights the trend towards upcycling ingredients to reduce waste and create sustainable solutions.
- Sustainable Alternatives
- Revive Eco's palm oil substitute demonstrates the trend towards developing environmentally friendly alternatives to harmful and controversial ingredients.
- Circular Economy
- Revive Eco's use of coffee waste to create a sustainable palm oil alternative illustrates the trend towards building circular economies by repurposing waste streams.
Where This Applies
- Food and Beverage
- Revive Eco's palm oil substitute has potential for use in the food and beverage industry as a more sustainable ingredient.
- Cosmetics
- Revive Eco's palm oil substitute could be used as an ingredient in cosmetics, which often contain controversial palm oil-derived ingredients.
- Sustainability Consulting
- Revive Eco's success in developing sustainable alternatives to palm oil has created opportunities for consultancies to aid other companies in reducing their environmental impact by identifying alternative ingredients.
