US food-tech company Voyage Foods has introduced its bean-free coffee to commercial customers in foodservice and food manufacturing channels.
The bean-free brew, made from roasted chickpeas, rice hulls and green tea-derived caffeine, is over 40% cheaper than traditional coffee, "providing coffee manufacturers with price stability that results in significantly better margins," said the firm.
Available in various caffeinated and decaffeinated formats – including roast and ground, liquid, liquid concentrate and instant – the bean-free coffee aims to address rising coffee prices driven by extreme weather conditions and climate change.
Adam Maxwell, CEO and founder of Voyage Foods, said: "Given the current dynamics of the coffee market, food and beverage suppliers are uneasy about supply-chain volatility as well as fulfilling their triple bottom line of people, planet and profit".
"There will always be a place for premium, fair-trade, single-origin coffee, and that's not our target – we intend to make the biggest possible impact, and we'll do that by supplying an eco-friendlier, ethically made alternative to commodity coffee."
