Styrofoam eco-friendly alternative Cruz Foam now being adopted by local companies

Last month, we showed you a company in Santa Cruz that is revolutionizing the packaging industry with its eco-friendly version of polystyrene foam, commonly known as Styrofoam. Now their products are hitting the market including with local companies.

Verve Coffee Roasters in Santa Cruz has always had an eye toward sustainability and environmental impact.

"Whether that's upcycling the burlap back into our community with local farmers and artists and things like that. Or whether that's switching our entire roasting operation to a new roaster just to consume less natural gas," said Verve's Baker Carroll.

That's why when they learned a company just down the road from them called Cruz Foam had created an environmentally-friendly version of Styrofoam they jumped at the chance to partner with the start-up.

"It's amazing that it's truly recyclable, that it's compostable, that it can be really minimal impact on the supply chain and that's what we were looking for for our products," said Carroll.

The biodegradable foam developed by Cruz Foam is made up of a material created out of the shells of sea creatures like shrimp.

Verve is using the foam in its ready-to-drink shipments, switching out traditional Styrofoam packaging for the environmentally-friendly Cruz Foam coolers.

"So if you order our nitro coffee or any of our temperature-controlled products online and we're shipping that to your house, we want that to arrive safely, food safe and quality controlled," said Carroll.

Verve is one of the first companies to use Cruz Foam products. Cruz Foam employees who have been with the company since the beginning say it's wonderful to finally see their product out in the real world.

"Because we really believe in our product. We think it can make a difference and we've been working at it for seven years which is quite a long time and now being able to partner with local companies is really exciting," said co-founder Marco Rolandi.

Verve says within the coffee community they're already spreading the word about Cruz Foam and believe it could be a game changer for them and the entire industry.

"We really want all the other roasters globally who are interviewing and applying for these awards, we want them to hear about what Cruz Foam is doing and what we're able to do with Cruz Foam," said Carroll.

Those at Verve say they're excited to keep growing their ready-to-drink products and packaging partnership with Cruz Foam.

Cruz Foam is also launching its products with a number of other companies both locally and across the country.