Behind every hard-working startup brand are unusually big-hearted people passionate about their products, taking a chance on a dream. That's us.
In 2017, we left our corporate jobs in New England to start something that was much more rewarding. Through extensive experience and research, we know that people love their Keurig® coffee makers, but there are still problems to address. Forty million coffee pods end up in our landfills every day! Beyond that, coffee farmers struggle having enough food to feed their families at least 6 months of each year. We knew that with our dedication, experience and big hearts, we could do something to help.
From our kitchen table in South Carolina and with our Keurig brewer by our side to fuel our passion, we envisioned a brand designed for coffee lovers, from a company committed to giving back to others and showing respect for the planet.
We launched Cambio Roasters® in 2018 selling "Eco-Friendly, People-Powered, Profit-Sharing Coffee Pods." Since then we continued innovating, to improve on recyclability and coffee quality, leading us to the 2024 launch of the world's first and only aluminum pod for use in America's most popular pod brewers.
Below are a few highlights from our story.
2018, Cambio is born!
In July, we traveled to Popayan, Colombia with Food 4 Farmers, meeting coffee-farming families, enjoying the wonderful meals they prepared for us and touring the land they're so proud of. Kevin came armed with what might possibly be the first Keurig® brewer ever to be used in Colombia. On November 10, Cambio Roasters coffee was launched!
2019, A whirlwind first year.
After a successful launch the business quickly scaled, until we had customers in all 50 states after only 6 months. We began to think about how to take Cambio to the next level, and started to build a virtual Dream Team to make it happen! We opened our Amazon store, to put our coffee on a national stage. We hired our first employee, Holly, to help us keep up with order fulfillment, and executing our unique customer experience programs. Continuing our efforts to get closer to coffee growers, we visited coffee farms in Costa Rica.
2020, Taking it to the people.
We hit the road to bring Cambio to as many potential customers as possible, doing consumer sampling and talking with retail buyers, to increase demand and grow our retail distribution. In our ongoing effort to improve recyclability and make it easier for consumers, we launched compostable cartons and "easy-peel lids". We introduced pods with our distinctive "flavor ridges", designed to optimize flavor extraction and make our coffees taste even better.
2021, Hitting our stride.
Following a period of steady growth in demand for our products, we kicked off sales at our first retailer, Harris Teeter. This relationship has grown over the years and remains one of our strongest and most successful partnerships. In spite of growing bricks-and-mortar retail distribution, Kevin and Ann could still be spotted at their local post office, with an armful of products to be shipped to loyal Cambio customers.
2022, An alarming discovery.
When we learned the truth about the fate of most plastics sent to recycling facilities, we made the decision to exit single-use plastic as soon as possible and set out to innovate the next generation of eco-friendly coffee pods. Kevin continued to spread the word on any stage he can find, appearing on local news shows and speaking at industry conferences. Our retail footprint continued to expand, with the addition of Giant stores in the mid-Atlantic region.
2023, Making a cup that's worlds better.
We focused our energy on creating the "most recyclable pod" imaginable, exploring countless options before our R&D landed on the idea of developing the world's first aluminum pod that works with every existing Keurig® brewer. Kevin traveled to Germany to work with our partners designing the new pods and develop the manufacturing process to produce pods at scale. Retail distribution continued to expand, as Hannaford stores in Northern New England, MA and Eastern NYS introduced Cambio to their shelves. A new aluminum pod deserves a sleek new box to feature its shine. We dove into a project to redesign our packaging, one that stands out on shelf and features the new pod.