This new beverage dubbed Coffogenic has been launched in Thailand, which is the third-largest coffee producer in South East Asia - but as with just about all coffee production worldwide, around 50% of a coffee harvest is considered to be agriculture waste.
This high percentage is because only coffee beans are prized in the manufacturing of coffee - all other components such as the husk and pulp making up the coffee cherries that house the beans are discarded.
“The initial idea behind the development of Coffogenic was to create a circular upcycling model for eco-friendly coffee production,” Coffogenic parent company Hillkoff managing director Naruemon Taksaudom said.
“But as we conducted more research into the properties of coffee cherries together with local universities, we found that the potential of coffee cherry extract as a functional beverage was even wider than initially expected.”
Coffogenic recently took home one of the Top 10 tasteInnovation Awards at ThaiFex-Anuga-Asia 2025 for its seamless integration of both functionality and sustainability.
Coffogenic is made from the husks of arabica coffee cherries, and the company has already successfully registered this product as a novel food with the Thai Food and Drug Administration (FDA) due to its clear health benefits.
“The main benefit we have seen from this product is in its ability to reduce LDL cholesterol in the body, and there is a decade of research behind this that scientifically supports this benefit,” she added.
“The main active compound in Coffogenic is the polyphenol chlorogenic acid, which in general has been found to also be antidiabetic, anti-carcenogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidating, anti-pathogenic and cardio-protective.”
As such, the current main target audience for Copagenic includes individuals with high cholesterol, diabetes, and hypertension.
There is only one variant of Coffogenic currently, which tastes like a mixture of coffee and prune juice, but Hillkoff is confident in the exclusivity of this product due to its technological IP.
“We have already registered and obtained the intellectual property rights and technology licenses for the processing of Coffogenic both in Thailand and internationally,” she added.
At present, the product is already being retailed in both the companyś online store and major Asian online marketplaces such as Shopee and Lazada.
Next steps for coffee cherries
After taking home the award, the company has now set its sights ond developing more functional food products from coffee cherry pulp, such as ciders and balsamic vinegars.
“Basically, the idea is very much to move out of the coffee cup for the coffee pulp products, to show everyone where innovation can take us,” she added.
“It is so important to continue on with this innovation to further reduce coffee pulp wastage - if just half of the global coffee pulp is recycled or upcycled yearly, we’d be able to transform around 7.5bn kg of this into useful products and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 1.88bn kgeCO2.”
