Rogers Family Company Launches OneCup™ "BIO" - World's First 97 Percent Biodegradable Single Serve Coffee Product

LINCOLN, Calif., Oct. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Every year, an estimated 9.1 billion single serve coffee and drink cartridges – some 19 million cubic feet of waste – wind up in U.S. landfills. The waste is approximately equivalent to 16,500 massive shipping containers which – if laid end to end – would stretch for more than 62 miles.

To address this longstanding waste challenge and concern of environmentally-conscious consumers who want coffee as "green" as possible, the Lincoln, Calif.-based Rogers Family Company (www.rogersfamilyco.com) has created a groundbreaking single serve coffee product that is 97 percent biodegradable: the OneCup™ "BIO."

The OneCup BIO – available at various retailers or online - has the highest percentage of biodegradability of any single serve coffee. The Rogers family is also working to make the product's mesh filter biodegradable to render the OneCup BIO waste-free. The filter is BIO's only non- biodegradable part.

"We are excited to offer consumers this groundbreaking single serve coffee product that reflects our commitment to produce environmentally and socially responsible coffee," said Rogers Family Company President Jon B. Rogers. "Coffee lovers can savor their single serve brew knowing that they're part of the solution instead of tossing one more thing into the landfill problem."

BIO caps the company's years of effort to deliver the market's most environmentally responsible single serve coffee.

OneCup is composed of bio-based material from renewable natural resources including vegetable oil, various plant starches and tree by-products. OneCup will degrade in an anaerobic environment. OneCup does not need sunlight or air to degrade. If exposed to moisture, OneCup will biodegrade and not leave any measurable toxic residue.

"A good, convenient cup of coffee does not have to come at such a price to the environment," said Vice President Jim Rogers.

The initial version of OneCup also revolutionized the single serve market in 2011 because it was the only product at that time to employ a unique fabric mesh filter rather than a plastic brewing chamber.

"We wanted to create a unique single serve coffee," recalled Vice President John W. Rogers.

"We believe we hit a home run with our goals regarding taste and value based on great consumer response to OneCup," added John W. Rogers. "And while we reduced the environmental footprint with a product that had 30 to 35 percent less packaging than other single serve coffees, we felt that was not good enough."

The company's Community Aid program helps to build a better quality life for coffee farmers and workers and protect nature in such regions as Mexico, Latin America, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Rwanda (Africa).

The Rogers Family Co. supplies "Fairly Traded" gourmet coffee and tea to customers nationwide through such brands/divisions as San Francisco Bay and The Organic Coffee Company.

SOURCE Rogers Family Company