Why Coffee is a Superfood

WHY COFFEE FRUIT IS A SUPERFOOD

Written by Vanessa Murillo & Lachlan Powell- Co-founders of I Am Grounded

The most common question we are asked at I Am Grounded, is more of a statement. “I didn’t know coffee is actually a fruit”. Yes, coffee is a fruit! It’s a juicy red stone fruit that doesn’t taste like coffee. Instead it resembles a berry-like flavour and grows in tropical climates such as Colombia, where Co-founder Vanessa was born. To gather the coffee beans we know and love, the fruit is picked, washed, sorted, and de-pulped. The beans eventually travel into the coffee chain ending up either roasted or as green beans, and eventually brewed. Unfortunately, our global addiction to this delicious brew means that every day, 2 billion cups of coffee are consumed contributing to 20 billion kilos of coffee fruit discarded per year and releasing about 16 million tonnes of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

So, what is the real driver behind this waste crisis? To start, at least 80% of the coffee fruit is wasted during processing. This staggering amount of waste has serious consequences for farmers and their communities, with the fruit often left to rot in large masses, leaching harmful toxins into the surrounding environment and aquatic ecosystems. Furthermore, many coffee farmers are now having to pay large waste management fees to the government to remove the unused coffee fruit from their land. In our travels to Colombia, we saw first-hand the sheer amount of wasted coffee fruit.

An industry in dire need of a shake-up. The coffee fruit waste crisis has kept us awake and brainstorming for many a night. In today’s modern society, traditional agricultural industries are frequently the subject of major disruptions. The fundamental issue, however, is that the end consumer is left seeing only the finished black or milk morning coffee. The challenge as you may have guessed lies in education.

Fortunately, we’re seeing a surge in upcycling, highlighting the importance of reducing food waste. According to Project Drawdown, a global leader in ranking climate solutions, global food waste contributes to 8-10% of the world’s CO2 emissions. Upcycled ingredients such as the by-products of fibrous fruits and vegetables, the whey from dairy, or the grains from the beer brewing process, all present a plausible and scalable solution to our amounting food waste problem. Put simply, Upcycling means giving an otherwise discarded product, new life. For I Am Grounded, we take this natural by-product of coffee fruit and Upcycle into our functional snacks

A Healthy Solution Besides being very tasty, the coffee fruit is also rich in antioxidants, the powerful compounds present in a variety of fruits, vegetables and superfoods that help fight free radicals to protect against oxidative stress and damage to cells. One type of these antioxidants is called flavonoids, which are a diverse group of those

phytochemicals found in several fruits and vegetables. Flavonoids are potent antioxidants, known to help support the immune system. Furthermore, one specific polyphenol compound found in coffee fruit is chlorogenic acid, which helps to lower blood pressure and improve heart health. The antioxidants in the whole coffee fruit can be compared to 3 times more than Acai!

Promotes Brain Health Early studies show that the coffee fruit can improve your body’s BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor), a protein essential for maintaining healthy cognition and other brain-related processes such as mood and sleep. Although early days, this research is very exciting when considering that the brain’s supply of BDNF protects it against mental illness, including depression and dementia.

Natural Energy Coffee fruit is slightly lower in caffeine than the coffee bean but provides a lasting natural hit. In the 9AM Lemon & Coconut and 3pm Cocoa & Nuts I Am Grounded energy snacks, there is 35.5mg of caffeine, which is the equivalent of having a green tea or a weak coffee. Our specially formulated products will keep you going throughout your day, right at the moments when you need a little energy bump.

The change starts with you. Next time you are ordering your coffee from the local café, try to visualise the bigger picture behind the drink. Innovative disruptors will soon rise with the message of coffee being more than just a bean. Ultimately, it is the ground-up approach from the everyday consumer adopting these Upcycled by-products that will change the industry for the better.

Rich in: Antioxidants Flavonoids (to support the immune system) Chlorogenic Acid (blood pressure & heart health)

=X3 more than Acai!