The coffee cup of the future: grown as fruit in a 3D mould
Designers say gourds, used as ancient drinking vessels, are an organic alternative to single-use containers
BIODEGRADABLE coffee cups are being “grown” from fruit by an innovative design company in a bid to cut down on plastic waste.
The reusable cups are made from gourds, a fruit in the pumpkin family, which are grown inside 3D-printed moulds to make them the perfect coffee-cup shape when picked.
The fast-growing squashes were used by our ancestors as drinking containers, and thanks to a waxy outer shell, can be dried out and used to hold liquids.
Creme, an architecture and design company, is now growing cup and flask-shaped gourds at a farm near New York, US, after testing the moulds in its studio in Brooklyn.
The Daily Telegraph understands that the company has had inquiries from companies in the UK and around the world.
Tania Kaufmann, the company’s business manager, said: “The inspiration actually came from how the Japanese grow their watermelons. They are grown in moulds into a square shape so they are easily transported and stackable, so we thought we might be able to grow gourds similarly using moulds in the shape of cups and flasks.
“[We] identified gourds as a fastgrowing plant which bears robust fruits each season, developing a strong outer skin, and fibrous inner flesh. Once dried, gourds have historically been used by our ancestors as receptacles like cups.”
In 2011, it was estimated that 2.5 billion coffee cups were thrown away each year, a number that is likely to have risen in the years since. However, because takeaway cups are made from a mixture of paper and plastic, which makes the cup heatproof and leakproof, they are difficult to recycle.
In 2017, a study found that just one in 400 of the cups are recycled, even if consumers make the effort to put them in a recycling bin.
A drive for reusable coffee mugs has been gathering pace in recent years, with some retailers offering incentives to switch. Pret a Manger, for example, will charge 50p less to a customer with a reusable cup.
Last year, MPS called for a “latte levy” – a 25p tax on disposable cups – and in December last year the Government announced a consultation on a deposit return scheme for bottles and cans, to include coffee cups.
Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, said at the time: “Some may argue that these steps put the interests of the environment ahead of economic factors. They couldn’t be more wrong.”
He added: “You can’t have a healthy economy without a sustainable environment to provide the resources we all need. Using resources more wisely improves productivity.”
The gourd cups take around six weeks to grow and can hold up to 443 millilitres (15fl oz) of water, a little less than the 473ml in a medium, or “grande” Starbucks coffee cup.
Ms Kaufmann said: “The company is focusing on creating a sustainable alternative to the single-use plastic cup. This cup of the future is a completely organic and biodegradable vessel carved from a gourd that can replace the single-use plastic cup.
“Ideally, the entire world will benefit from our product. Single-use plastic cups are not biodegradable and cause a massive amount of waste.”
♦ Peroni is attempting to create an upmarket beer can with a slimline version aimed at young people. The fully recyclable, 330ml aluminium cans will be launched in Tesco stores next month, according to The Grocer.
The brand, owned by Asahi, the Japanese beer giant, is attempting to win space in the “highly competitive drinks chillers” sector, the magazine said.
Jo Spencer, a marketing director at Asahi UK, said the cans would appeal to “a younger cohort of beer drinkers looking for [an] on-the-go option”.