Darien, CT, March 17, 2021 — Smile Beverage Werks, P.B.C. announced today that it has earned the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Certified Biobased Product label. The products:
- Smile Coffee Werks® Coffee Pod Compatible with Keurig® K-Cup® brewers
are now able to display a unique USDA label that highlights its percentage of biobased content.
Third-party verification for a product's biobased content is administered through the USDA BioPreferred Program, an initiative created by the 2002 Farm Bill (and recently reauthorized by the 2018 Farm Bill). One of the goals of the BioPreferred Program is to increase the development, purchase and use of biobased products.
The USDA Certified Biobased Product label displays a product's biobased content, which is the portion of a product that comes from a renewable source, such as plant, animal, marine, or forestry feedstocks. Utilizing renewable, biobased materials displaces the need for non-renewable petroleum-based chemicals. Biobased products, through petroleum displacement, have played an increasingly important role in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that exacerbate global climate change.
Biobased products are cost-comparative, readily available, and perform as well as or better than their conventional counterparts.
"Smile Beverage Werks® is committed to increasing awareness and availability of more environmentally sustainable packaging options for everyday use. We're dedicated to educating consumers about how their daily purchasing and consumption habits affect the environment and how we can all take easy steps to become lower-impact households. The USDA Certified Biobased Product Label is an extremely helpful tool on this journey," says Frank Schuster, Co-Founder of Smile Beverage Werks®.
"We applaud Smile Beverage Werks®, P.B.C. for earning the USDA Certified Biobased Product label," said Vernell Thompson, USDA BioPreferred Program. "Products from Smile Beverage Werks®, P.B.C. are contributing to an ever-expanding marketplace that adds value to renewable agriculture commodities, creates jobs in rural communities, and decreases our reliance on petroleum."
According to a report that USDA released in July 2019, biobased products contributed $459 billion to the U.S. economy in 2016 (a 17% increase from 2014) and support, directly and indirectly, 4.6 million jobs. The report's research team estimates the reduction of fossil fuels and associated GHG emissions from biobased products equivalent to approximately 12 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) prevented as of 2016.
The increased production of renewable chemicals and biobased products contributes to the development and expansion of the U.S. bioeconomy - where society looks to agriculture for sustainable sources of fuel, energy, chemicals, and products.
About Smile Beverage Werks, P.B.C.:
Smile Coffee Werks® is a registered trademark of Smile Beverage Werks, PBC. Nespresso® is a registered trademark of Nestlé. Keurig® and K-Cups® are registered trademarks of Keurig Dr Pepper. Smile Beverage Werks is not connected or associated in any way with Nespresso®, Nestlé, Keurig® or Keurig Dr Pepper®.
About Smile Beverage Werks PBC
Smile Beverage Werks® PBC is a Delaware Public Benefits Corporation with a sustainability mission. It is committed to developing and manufacturing compostable food and beverage packaging including single-use coffee pods. Developed by serial entrepreneur Michael Sands and green construction expert Frank Schuster, Smile Beverage Werks® produces the only commercially compostable, certified compostable Keurig® and Nespresso® compatible pods that do not require any additional film for shelf life or separation of lid, filter and grounds for disposal. Follow @smilebeveragewerks on Facebook and Twitter, or visit our website SmileCoffeeWerks.com to learn more.
About the USDA BioPreferred Program and Certified Biobased Product label
The BioPreferred Program is a USDA-led initiative that assists the development and expansion of markets for biobased products. The BioPreferred Program is transforming the marketplace for biobased products through two initiatives: mandatory purchasing requirements for Federal Agencies and Federal contractors and voluntary product certification and labeling.
Biobased products span a diverse range of applications, such as lubricants, cleaning products, chemicals and bioplastics. The USDA Certified Biobased Product label communicates a product's biobased content. Expressed as a percentage, biobased content is the ratio of non-fossil organic carbon (new organic carbon) to total organic carbon in a product. New organic carbon is derived from recently-created materials. The total organic carbon in a product consists of new organic carbon and old organic carbon that originates from fossil carbon materials, such as petroleum, coal, or natural gas. More than 3,500 products have earned the USDA Certified Biobased Product label. To learn more about the USDA Certified Biobased Product label please visit www.biopreferred.gov, and follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/BioPreferred.