SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 19, 2011: Sector Labs, a San Francisco-based product and concept development firm, is partnering with Excellent Packaging & Supply, a distributor of sustainable and nature-based packaging for foodservice applications, to commercialize a disposable hot cup that takes the guesswork out of dispensing coffee by making it easy for customers to indicate precisely how much room they need for milk or cream. The cups are the first of their kind to incorporate the patent-pending R4 System™ and will be marketed under the Room For™ brand. Working together, the two companies have developed a prototype cup that is currently in trial at Crossroads Café in San Francisco.

To-go cups are typically served filled to the brim, which is fine for customers who prefer their coffee black, but leaves millions of milk and cream lovers with no choice but to dump a few ounces of hot coffee in the garbage. Just stand by the condiment bar at any coffee shop and one thing becomes clear, there is room for improvement in the way coffee is dispensed. By eliminating the need for customers to “make room” for milk or cream, retailers can reduce wasted coffee and appeal to those customers who choose retailers that demonstrate sustainable business practices. In fact, nationwide adoption of the R4 System could reduce the environmental impact of the entire coffee industry, which is facing soaring coffee-bean prices.

Watch a video of real customers making room for cream:
http://youtu.be/QnH65qhGWgA

“This is a great example of an overlooked problem that has existed for years in the foodservice industry, and which has wide-ranging ramifications and low consumer awareness. We think the R4 System will change the way people order coffee, what to expect from retailers, and will also save precious resources,” said Allen King, president of Excellent Packaging & Supply. “Unlike other sustainable solutions, Room For brand hot cups are the first cups to conserve coffee, which makes them a different shade of green. We are delighted to partner with Sector Labs on this project, which broadens the range of sustainable solutions we can offer coffee merchants that are focused on sustainability.”

“The practice of ‘making room’ seems trivial, but it takes significant resources to produce and transport coffee across the globe. By the time coffee reaches the customer, about 2,500 gallons of fresh water will have been used to produce a single pound of coffee beans,” says Daniel Kokin, president of Sector Labs. “The R4 System eliminates the need for customers to waste coffee by giving them a better way to order, and unlike other sustainable solutions, we encourage the conservation of what goes into the cup. The R4 System is the ideal solution because it simply adds a level of precision to what customers already do and there’s no compromise or hidden costs — just a more efficient use of resources.”

If initial customer response is any indication, the R4 System should find its way into coffee shops nationwide. “It’s great to see my favorite coffee shop be a part of something so innovative. It’s so obvious; why hasn’t someone thought of this before?” asks Kin Jung, a regular customer at Crossroads Café. “Ideas like this have a tendency to change the world.”

To learn more about Room For™ brand coffee-conserving hot cups, please visit roomfor.org.
To learn more about the R4 System™, please visit r4system.com

About Sector Labs
Sector Labs (www.sectorlabs.com) is a product and concept development firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company is led by a team of forward thinkers with the common goal of finding simple solutions to big problems.

About Excellent Packaging & Supply
Excellent Packaging & Supply (www.excellentpackaging.com) is a wholesale distribution company that specializes in nature-based packaging for foodservice and other applications. The company’s range of environmentally sustainable packaging includes compostable, biodegradable and recyclable product lines, as well as traditional packaging solutions. Excellent Packaging & Supply brings decades of experience to assist its customers with mid-level management and inventory-control services, product development, sourcing, quality control, and price negotiation.

Meanwhile, the price of packaged Dunkin’ Donuts and Folgers coffee products sold in retail outlets rose by 10 percent this month. And with coffee prices hitting a 14-year high and rising more than 100 percent in the past 12 months, more hikes could be on the horizon.

read the entire story here | via KATU.com

Select San Francisco coffee retailers are currently beta testing R4 System. If you want to help revolutionize the coffee industry and your coffee shop is located in the San Francisco Bay Area, contact us about becoming a beta partner.

Arabica prices have surged 84 percent in the past year. Starbucks Corp. this week forecast second-quarter profit that fell short of analysts’ estimates as it projected paying more for coffee. A growers group in Colombia said it expects output to fall and a researcher said that Brazil’s crop will decline.

read the entire story here | via Bloomberg