Riff Energy+ drink earns carbon neutral certification

Image courtesy of Riff

Riff Energy+by Riff (Bend, OR)—a plant-powered, climate-friendly energy drink made from upcycled, nutrient-rich, cascara (coffee fruit) and other plant-based ingredients—is now certified carbon neutral by Carbonfund.org Foundation’s Carbonfree Product Certification Program.

"We’re all super passionate coffee lovers at Riff, but as we learned more and more about coffee’s impact on the environment related to food waste, along with the challenging conditions coffee farmers face every day, there’s no way we could remain complacent,” said Paul Evers, Riff CEO and co-founder, in a press release “Our focus shifted quickly to developing a product that would generate a positive impact. Riff’s purpose became reducing greenhouse gas emissions, avoiding nutrient-rich food waste, and helping vulnerable coffee growing communities."

Prior to the certification, Riff Energy+ was already considered carbon neutral based on the cross-correlation of two Riff-sponsored studies conducted in 2020: a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) conducted by University of Oregon and an Environmental Impact Study conducted by Oregon State University. One of the key findings of the Environmental Impact Study revealed that an estimated 70 billion pounds of cascara is thrown to waste each year around the world. Food waste represents approximately 10% of food-related global emissions which accounts for 20-40% of total global greenhouse gas emissions.