Cambio Roasters Brings Aluminum Pods to Stores

Cambio Roasters added a new twist to the coffee aisle in grocery stores in September when it introduced single-serve aluminum coffee pods, supported by a full-funnel marketing campaign. The launch debuted the first aluminum coffee pod brand for Keurig brewers, while addressing the environmental impact of the reported 40 million plastic K-Cups that end up in landfills every day. Cambio Roasters founder and CEO Kevin Hartley (the former chief innovation officer at Keurig) says the brand’s aluminum pods have a recycling rate of more than 90%, compared to the much smaller 3% rate of traditional plastic pods."We look at three bottom lines: one for profit, one for people and one for the planet, and we try to optimize all of those," said Hartley, who started the company in early 2018 after leaving Keurig. The team had a specific consumer in mind: one who currently loves her K-Cups but is looking for 100% organic companies that respect the coffee farming families, follow small-batch roasting methods and offer the freshest cups of 100% organic coffee. "Aluminum is impervious to oxygen, moisture and light — literally the perfect barrier — so the coffee stays very fresh, just as the roasters want," he noted, adding that the company gives 20% of profits to 10,000 struggling coffee farming families. Target shopper "Hope" is typically between the ages of 35 and 55, is average to above average household income, a busy mom and/or early grandma, and is involved in her family and caring about the planet to the extent that she can. "We want Cambio to be her dream brand," Hartley said.Further, a key insight the company uncovered early on is that approximately 20% of existing Keurig consumers have enough anxiety about single-use plastics that they would consider transitioning out of the system. But when shown the aluminum K-Cup, according to Hartley, almost 90% of that group said they would reconsider and continue using their current machines using one of Cambio Roasters' eight flavors in the line that run the gamut from a Pacific Northwest roast to a light New England breakfast blend.Cambio Roasters’ 22-count boxes of aluminum pods are currently available in approximately 1,500 grocery store locations, including Walmart and Harris Teeter stores in the Southeast, Giant Stores in the Mid-Atlantic region and Hannaford in the Northeast, as well as on Amazon and the company’s website. Hartley predicts his brand will be the fastest-growing K-Cup in the country in 2025, and the company plans to be wherever Hope shops by the end of the year.The pods went into stores with a marketing campaign that included trade promotions and shelf banners. But Hartley said the national press junket in late September communicated "the biggest news in coffee since the K-Cup." He added that driving awareness for the brand was paramount, and the company focused on the line’s packaging, which offers an elegant white brand block on-shelf with the aluminum pod as the hero. The back panel shares their coffee passion, saying, "Best coffees in the world, best coffees for the world." The inside lid of each box features a picture of Hartley with his partner and wife, Ann, along with their mission.Hartley said the company’s "very aggressive social media campaign" created audiences that have a propensity to live around the stores where the Cambio line is currently available. "We have really cool ads that let the consumer know that today 40 million plastic K-Cups are going in landfills and we’re saying #byebyetoplastics," said Hartley. The brand-building campaign in and around its stores and also on the path to purchase is accompanied by ad traffic both on the company website as well as on Amazon.Eight-pack sample kits in a jute bag with a hang tag encourage trial in stores. The sample kits are supported by aggressive pricing in local ads that will be followed by a series of re-targeting ads describing the brand, its mission and an offer for a subsequent purchase. Hartley said the Cambio team also collaborates with retailers for sampling and all trade promotional partnerships in their stores.Every element of the marketing mix is a test, and the company will continue to evaluate what parts of the mix are producing the best results. "As long as it is in the brand voice, we’re agnostic to what works," Hartley said. "We let the consumer vote with their clicks and their checkbooks to tell us what messages are the most powerful." He said Q1 2025 will bring even more aggressive marketing support, with the goal of being ubiquitous on all the major platforms."We’re going to bring on some radically talented partners now that we’re getting distribution because it’s naive to think you can launch a national brand just by getting on the shelf and not having any marketing support," Hartley said. "Hopefully you’ll be seeing Cambio across all the major platforms with partners who really know what they are doing."

Cambio Roasters Brings Aluminum Pods to Stores

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