Coffee's Dirty Secret / Interview with I Am Grounded Co-Founder Vanessa Murillo
Roughly 20 billion kilos of coffee fruit is wasted per year
releasing toxic gases into the environment
Vanessa Murillo, co-founder I Am Grounded
As lovers of both coffee and the planet, Vanessa and Lachlan couldn’t ignore the pressing issue of the coffee farming crisis. This hidden hero of coffee farming, known as the coffee cherry or coffee fruit, holds tremendous potential and remains largely untapped.
The duo have pioneered a solution to combat this waste and transform coffee fruit into a delicious and sustainable snack bar. These innovative bars, made from upcycled coffee fruit, harness its untapped potential whilst reducing the ecological footprint left by coffee farming.
Vanessa & Lachlan launched I Am Grounded in 2020.
Vanessa & Lachlan first became fascinated with coffee fruit after learning about its health benefits and the waste associated with coffee farming from Vanessa’s father, a food by-product expert & innovator in the Agri-Tech Space.
Determined to harness this fruit’s potential & prevent it from ending up in landfill, Vanessa & Lachlan started researching, experimenting, testing & collaborating with local farmers in Colombia.
Years later, I Am Grounded launched their snack bars that hero unused coffee fruit. This innovative snack concept has been ranged in Woolworths, IGA and selected health food stores.
Vanessa’s love for coffee is in her blood – after migrating from Colombia to Australia in ‘96; her family opened a coffee training school. From a young age, Vanessa was a ‘Barista Master’ & then went on to open her own coffee shop in Brisbane. Vanessa also studied journalism, political science and marketing. She combines her love of coffee with her digital marketing talents to run the marketing and communications for I Am Grounded.
Lachlan is a Civil Engineer with a Masters in Project Management, and is passionate about environmental sustainability in both the built environment as well as food and nutrition.