Brewing Sustainable Change

In an industry where single-serve coffee pods have become ubiquitous—and problematic—Kevin Hartley saw an opportunity to reinvent a global morning ritual. Formerly Keurig’s Chief Innovation Officer, Kevin channeled his passion for sustainability and innovation into founding Cambio Roasters.

Determined to address the environmental impact of billions of plastic coffee pods entering landfills and oceans each year, Kevin introduced an aluminum-based K-Cup® alternative that’s both recyclable and capable of preserving premium coffee flavors. Along the way, Cambio Roasters embraced organic sourcing, small-batch roasting, and partnerships that give back to coffee-growing communities and ocean cleanup efforts. In this interview, Kevin discusses his transition from corporate innovator to eco-entrepreneur, the challenges of shaking up a convenience-driven market, and his vision for a more responsible coffee industry.

1. Tell us about your journey from Keurig’s Chief Innovation Officer to founding Cambio Roasters. What drove you to reimagine the coffee pod industry?

In the early 2000s, I did my first work for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, which was this small but growing company in Waterbury, Vermont. We ended up purchasing Keurig, which had only a tiny national footprint at the time. Back then, people might’ve consumed a couple hundred K-Cups a year, but it’s now ballooned to over 20 billion annually in the U.S. alone. That means more than 50 million plastic pods a day land in landfills or oceans. It’s staggering. So, when we sold Keurig Green Mountain to a private equity firm, my wife Anne and I felt compelled to tackle those big environmental issues—namely, recyclability and single-use plastics. That’s what sparked Cambio Roasters: we wanted to reimagine the iconic K-Cup for the next 25 years and solve those two major problems.

2. How do you define innovation in the context of sustainable consumer products, particularly when addressing established consumption patterns like single-serve coffee?

I’m personally obsessed with two things: innovation—truly listening to consumers and giving them something they’ll love—and the triple bottom line, which is profit, people, and planet. As I once discovered through research with Dr. Kevin Clancy, 96% of new consumer packaged goods fail. About half of those fail because the consumer never really wanted them in the first place, and the other half die “the death of a thousand paper cuts” inside the organization—by the time they reach shelves, they’ve been watered down so much that they’re unremarkable. For us, “consumer-led innovation” means presenting our best vision first, confirming consumers love it, and only then figuring out how to bring it to market—without diluting the idea.

3. Cambio Roasters has taken on the challenge of transforming a convenience-focused industry into one that prioritizes sustainability. How does your team approach ideation when balancing consumer expectations with environmental imperatives?

We practice what we call “running the elastic experiment first.” In big corporations, you often only test concepts you know you can execute, and that leaves out some of the boldest, most exciting ideas. Instead, we take our ideal solution—a 100% organic coffee in an infinitely recyclable aluminum cup that keeps the coffee fresher, tastes amazing, and cuts down on plastic—and put that vision in front of consumers. When we see their eyes light up, that’s the sign we need to invest the time, money, and energy to make it happen—even if it requires years of R&D.

4. The coffee industry has deeply entrenched practices. What strategies do you employ to identify opportunities for sustainable innovation within these traditional frameworks?

We basically do the opposite of what a large corporation might find “safe.” If we would have been told “no” in the old environment, that’s our cue to lean in. We jokingly call ourselves a “dream team” of ex–Keurig Green Mountain folks who saw great ideas get shelved due to cost or risk. Now, we treat those “risky” ideas as our roadmap. That’s how we ended up with a fully recyclable aluminum K-Cup®, 100% organic beans, and 20% of our profits going back to coffee farmers. A big company might’ve said, “That’s too expensive,” but it’s central to who we are at Cambio.

5. Your company sits at the intersection of sustainability, consumer behavior, and social impact. How do you synthesize insights from these different domains to drive innovation?

We start by talking to the consumer. People already care about fair treatment of farmers and reducing plastic waste. They also want a great-tasting cup of coffee with the convenience of a single-serve brewer. Once we understood how strongly consumers felt about those elements, we used our passion for the triple bottom line to build a brand that fits perfectly into that space. Our small-batch, organic beans pack a lot of flavor, and by packaging them in aluminum—which is infinitely recyclable—we eliminate guilt over plastic pods. Plus, aluminum naturally preserves freshness better than plastic does, so you’re getting higher-quality coffee as well.

6. Can you discuss the process behind developing your aluminum K-Cup® alternative? What were the key challenges in creating a solution that satisfied both environmental and consumer needs?

When you switch from plastic to aluminum, you’re dealing with a completely different material. Plastic doesn’t dent; aluminum does, so we had to design and build a brand-new K-Cup line from scratch. Then there’s the challenge of forming the cup without tearing it—imagine a 10-foot-tall roll of aluminum being stamped every tenth of a second. Another puzzle was attaching a paper filter inside an aluminum cup, since it’s typically melted onto plastic. The good news is that aluminum blocks oxygen, moisture, and light, so it preserves flavor far better. Now we’re introducing “Clean Cup Technology,” which will let you easily remove the filter and recycle the aluminum. We’re also moving toward cups made from over 90% recycled aluminum, aiming for a more circular approach.

7. Cambio has integrated giving into its business model through partnerships with Food 4 Farmers and 4Ocean. How has this commitment to social impact influenced your product development and innovation strategy?

We’ve woven social impact directly into who we are. Coffee farmers—especially those on small family plots—deal with food insecurity for months at a time. So we donate 20% of profits to organizations like Food 4 Farmers, which works to improve farmers’ livelihoods and keep them farming sustainably. With 4Ocean, we remove plastic from our oceans based on the volume of K-Cups we sell. It’s not a gimmick; our customers genuinely care about this work. Once you see how much plastic ends up in our oceans, it’s hard not to want to fix that problem.

8. Looking ahead, how do you envision Cambio Roasters continuing to push the boundaries of sustainable innovation in the coffee industry? What emerging trends or technologies do you see as potential game-changers?

We’re really excited about rolling out Clean Cup Technology fully, so recycling becomes even simpler. We also want to keep pushing the percentage of recycled aluminum higher and higher. Beyond capsules, we plan to spotlight specific farms with limited-edition roasts, doubling or tripling our support for those communities. Long term, I see us—maybe the whole industry—phasing out plastic pods entirely. Consumers want an eco-friendly solution without giving up the convenience of single-serve, and we’re determined to provide exactly that.