1 of 4
The stainless steel SealPods are sealed with aluminum sticker lids after each refilling. (Credit: Gabriela Matei)
2 of 4
The Vertuo/Vertuoline-compatible “V-Multidisk” version of mycoffeestar pods. (Credit: Swiss Innovation Products GmbH)
3 of 4
Maverick Coffee’s Natalie Hancock is visibly proud about her reusable SealPod capsules. (Credit: Pippa Williams)
4 of 4
The Nespresso-compatible “Gamma” version of mycoffeestar pods. (Credit: Swiss Innovation Products GmbH)
Reusable coffee pods are a fantastic option for eco-conscious consumers. STiR inquires with a Swiss inventor and a UK online store.
Perhaps no other brewing technology since the filter revolutionized the coffee market so much as single-serve pods. Pioneering by Keurig and later spread around the globe by Nestle Nespresso and Dolce Gusto, pod brewing machines have today become fixtures in countless offices, restaurants, bars and cafes, upmarket hotel rooms, and of course a myriad of private households.
Yet as the years have passed, one flaw became increasingly apparent: despite many brands today offering pods made from newly developed biodegradable materials, most used pods continue ending up in garbage dumps, landfills, or incinerators; and explicitly not in recycling or composting plants as they should. The average consumer is lazy and values personal convenience. Secondly, there simply aren’t enough collecting and recycling options around – not even in developed countries – to make a noticeable difference just yet.
So, somebody was bound to come up with an idea sooner or later. The only logical solution to counteract garbage dumps overflowing with discarded single-serve pods was to create... infinitely reusable pods. That “somebody” was Erwin Meier, a Swiss inventor.
mycoffeestar: Pioneer and multiple award winner
Getting to task, Meier created a first Nespresso-compatible reusable coffee brewing pod as soon as Nespresso’s patent had lapsed in 2011. One year later, he officially launched an improved version as “the world’s first refillable Nespresso-compatible pod made of medical-grade stainless steel” under the registered trademark of mycoffeestar. The pods proved an almost immediate hit with coffee lovers. So much so that in 2013 mycoffeestar won the prestigious Red Dot design award in the “Best of the Best” category.
By 2014, Meier added further version for the Dolce Gusto and Tchibo/Cafissimo systems to his portfolio. A Caffitaly-compatible capsule following in 2016, as well as a Vertuo pod in 2019.
Meier, who markets the mycoffeestar portfolio through his company, Swiss Innovation Products GmbH, said that all the pods adhere to the same original idea irrespective of their system compatibility. “They have the eco-conscious end consumer in mind, are infinitely refillable, save cost, and allow users to choose the coffee brand they personally like.” While the pods do have a few parts that require replacement from time to time, such as silicone sealing rings and lids, the steel cups themselves are almost indestructible. Meier recounted the recent case of a female customer who had purchased some of his first-generation capsules back in 2011... and was still using them in 2022. Of course, that extraordinarily long life cycle in itself makes Meier’s pods a truly environmentally friendly coffee brewing option.
Hefty savings and free coffee brand choice
Prefilled single-use pods are unfortunately notorious for the premium prices they charge consumers for the tiny bit of ground coffee they contain. On the other hand, using mycoffeestar almost guarantees hefty savings, according to Meier’s straightforward sample calculation. A 2-person household in Germany, he claimed, would on average spend €1,168 per year and discard 1,460 single-use pods. By switching to his reusable pods, that same couple could save almost €700 a year – with no waste generated but home-compostable coffee grounds (plus the occasional worn-out silicone ring). “An additional advantage is that the user is free in their choice of coffee brand, for example one from certified sustainable sources,” said Meier.
Although Meier originally started out marketing his pods through distribution partners in Europe, he has since begun re-focusing on online sales. “This was primarily a decision based on end-price considerations, as our former partners naturally insisted on receiving a profit cut too,” he explained. That, he added, would not have allowed him to offer his pods at a reasonable price in the long run. His company is currently shipping to anywhere within the European Union, but for the past year has also begun accepting online orders from the United States and Canada “quite successfully and in increasing amounts.” An interesting future market with potential would be Australia, Meier said.
SealPod, the Taiwanese solution
Half around the world from Switzerland, in Taiwan, a young entrepreneur by the name of Molly Liu experienced her very own eureka moment a few years after Erwin Meier had his game-changing idea. Liu
Maverick Coffee’s Natalie Hancock is visibly proud about her reusable SealPod capsules.
claims on her website that she had become frustrated with the large amounts of money she invested in regular single use pods to satisfy her “coffee addiction”. Possibly inspired by Erwin Meier’s products, she therefore decided to develop her own reusable capsule, naming it SealPod.
STiR got hold of an eco-conscious online retailer in the United Kingdom, Maverick Coffee, which had been featured in a recent report in “The Independent” newspaper. According to Maverick Coffee’s co-owner and director, Natalie Hancock, her online business started marketing Liu’s invention in 2019 and was “one of the first UK coffee companies to offer reusable pods for Nespresso and Dolce Gusto machines.” Hancock’s company has since become the exclusive UK distributor of SealPods. “We felt that SealPod would be a great product for us, as sustainability and ethical coffee play a big part in our company ethos,” she explained.
Hancock’s hunch turned out to be entirely correct.
“As soon as we had started offering SealPods they quickly became our biggest-selling product,” she claimed. “Our customers are often surprised at how easy they are to use and how great the coffee tastes.” The “The Independent” article that had initially alerted STiR to the Taiwanese product, aptly described “SealPods” as “perhaps the most eco-friendly option of all reusable pods”. Naturally, we wanted to know from Hancock whether these accolades were justified. Citing “a number of surveys in the trade press,” she confirmed that SealPod brews “a far superior coffee with a very rich crema when compared to some single-use capsules that often make a weaker, more watery coffee.”
Wash, rinse, repeat!
Currently being available in Nespresso and Dolce Gusto-compatible versions, a SealPod cup - just like Meier’s mycoffeestar - is made from stainless steel. But that is where the similarities largely divert. After refilling, Molly Liu’s Nespresso-compatible pods are sealed with aluminum foil sticker lids that need to be discarded after each use. Meanwhile, the Dolce Gusto version also has a steel strainer that goes into the bottom of the cup before filling. An additional filter paper to cover the strainer is optional. “But some people prefer not to use the filter as it can weaken the brew a little,” Hancock pointed out, adding that a SealPod can last up to 10 years “if looked after properly.” That “looking after” is as easy as pie, of course. Whether it’s Erwin Meier’s pioneering mycoffeestar or Molly Liu’s SealPod, they both are simply washed out and can then be immediately refilled, discarded coffee grinds simply going into the regular dustbin or onto the backyard compost heap. If that doesn’t sway consumers with an incorrigible penchant for convenience, what does?