A revolutionary coffee pod that does away with capsules?

BIODEGRADABLE The pod would be surrounded by a biodegradable membrane

It could be a real “revolution”, according to the distribution giant. Migros must present a coffee pod only surrounded by a biodegradable membrane, which would make it possible to do without capsules, believes the Swiss daily SonntagsZeitung.

Migros will present under the CoffeeB brand a ball of ground and pressed coffee, surrounded by a thin membrane, which completely eliminates metal or plastic capsules, according to the Sunday newspaper. The coffee ball - an individual dose - is deposited by the user in a specially designed coffee machine and once used it is 100% compostable, including the membrane, explains the newspaper which relies on patents filed by Delica, a subsidiary of Migros.

A new way of sustainable coffee consumption

The group invited the press on Tuesday in Zurich, in the presence of Fabrice Zumbrunnen, the general manager of the distribution group. The invitation evokes “the launch of a breakthrough innovation, destined to become a new way of sustainable coffee consumption”.

With this innovation, “Migros has found a solution to a double problem: the current aluminum or plastic capsules are very energy-intensive to manufacture and they are the source of enormous quantities of waste”, underlines the newspaper. According to the latter, the Delica teams worked for five years at their Birsfelden site near Basel to develop this new product. If CoffeeB appeals to consumers, it will compete directly with that of another Swiss giant, the Nespresso capsules from the Nestlé group.