A decade ago, Kaffe Bueno co-founder Alejandro Franco had to explain to everyone that no, using upcycling is neither cheaper nor of lower quality. Today, a lot has changed, and the future looks brighter than ever.
The Danish bioscience company upcycles coffee by-products into active and functional ingredients for multiple industries: Personal Care, Nutrition, and Crop & Soil Health.
– Today, co-founder Alejandro Franco says, when you make a cup of coffee, you use barely 1-20% of what is inside of it. We developed a process to unlock coffee’s 100% technological, economical and health potential.
KAFFAGE is the company’s patented, multifunctional active biopolymer completely upcycled from coffee by-products.
– It’s designed to deliver real, visible skin transformation. In a recent 28-day clinical study involving 60 women, we tested two KAFFAGE variants—KAFFAGE-D and KAFFAGE-BD—in facial serums against a placebo. The results were outstanding. KAFFAGE-D boosted skin hydration by 29.6% after just 14 days—174% more than the placebo—and continued to improve at day 28.
– KAFFAGE-BD also significantly enhanced hydration after 28 days. On elasticity, where the placebo group saw a 5.7% decline, KAFFAGE-D increased it by 13.3% and KAFFAGE-BD by 8.2%, representing 333% and 244% improvements, respectively.
– Using VISIA-CR imaging (a skin analysis imaging system, Ed’s note), KAFFAGE-D reduced crow’s feet wrinkle depth by 12% in just 28 days, while macroscopic photography confirmed clear improvements in skin texture and smoothness. On top of that, a BB cream with 3% KAFFAGE-BD increased skin hydration by 16% and improved fine lines and hyperpigmentation, with 97% of users reporting nourished, more radiant skin.
– What makes KAFFAGE truly unique isn’t just the efficacy—it’s the formulation versatility and multi functionality. It’s mostly hydrophilic, though also workeable with oils. It helps bring a more natural look and feel to formulations, while boosting SPF, and we have more data coming there soon. KAFFAGE is a high-performance ingredient that fuses efficacy, inclusivity, and environmental responsibility in one powerful package.
You’re a clear upcycling pioneer in the beauty industry, or at least perceived as such by me. How have you seen the conversation around upcycling and ‘waste as a resource’ change over the last few years?
– Thank you! There has been dramatic change in the last decade since we started. In the beginning, we had to explain people what is ‘upcycling.’ We also faced questions like, ‘it comes from waste so it’s cheaper and lower quality, right?’ ‘Why would people want to use waste in their products?‘ Stuff like that. Today, the rhetoric is very different, as you know. Today, everyone wants upcycled ingredients. And luckily, we were among the first movers in the space.
– Today there are even more companies upcycling coffee into ingredients, which help amplify our message, not only about upcycling or using waste as a resource, but also that coffee is not a beverage!
And, where are we now in the discussion?
– As mentioned, today, everyone is looking for upcycled ingredients. And this is expected to continue growing. In 2024, the global upcycled cosmetics ingredients market was valued at USD 253 million. It is expected to rise to USD 483 million by 2035 at a 6.7% CAGR.
So, what does this mean? How will the conversation change further around things that have previously been seen as waste?
– With the growing demand for upcycled ingredients, coupled with the unconsolidated definition for it, more and more suppliers are claiming to produce upcycled ingredients. As consumers educate themselves on the topic and find out not all claims are valid, skepticism towards the term will grow. More proof will be demanded, Franco predicts. He continues:
– Simultaneously, since the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) was introduced last year in EU, the pressure for brands and manufacturers to report and reduce their emissions will grow. Ingredients account of their Scope 3 emissions. Companies producing upcycled ingredients appropriately should become able to demonstrate emissions reductions through LCA, enabling an acceleration of mainstream adoption.
– The conversations and USPs around upcycled ingredients and products will be less story-driven and more data-driven.
Franco holds one topic extra close to his heart, which also is something most of the upcycled ingredient manufacturers are experiencing.
– The hinderance of adoption of their technologies or ingredients, simply because they are not white. To me, making products white as the standard is a standard that should be revised in parallel with the adoption of natural ingredients.
Franco has written several articles on the topic, and did “a cheeky protest” at in-cosmetics global in Amsterdam this year.
– The industry cannot demand natural while demanding everything to be white. Nature is not white!
– And, the compounds providing the colour are the ones giving the benefits to ingredients.
– The consumers of today care about naturality and effectiveness. They want to feel nature in their products. They don’t want products that look and feel sterile. These were the consumers of the past. So if the industry wants to evolve, as it is already doing by making everything more natural, it must consider the full extent of necessary collateral changes it must make.
– Think of sunscreens: the most documented complaint from consumers is the white cast effect. Yet when you talk to a formulator all they want is the product to be white. Why?!
What else do you have coming?
– A lot of good stuff brewing behind the scenes, Franco shares. Expect more news in SPF and functional ingredients.