STiR coffee and tea magazine

22 STiR coffee and tea | 2025 Quarter 3 Autumn (Sep/Oct/Nov) Q A Founded in 2019, AlterPacks is a Singapore-based start-up that transforms organic waste and food by-products into sustainable and fully compostable food and beverage packaging material. As founder and CEO of AlterPacks, Karen Cheah utilizes her extensive experience as an international award- winning journalist and creative strategist to revolutionize the sustainable materials and food and bever- age packaging industries. STiR Coffee and Tea Media: How did you go from an award-winning journalist to the founder and CEO of a cutting-edge, eco-friendly company? Cheah: While pursuing my Master of Science in Innovation at Singapore Management University, I was tasked with launching a hypothetical start-up to help alleviate a global problem. I immediately thought back to times when I'd traveled and witnessed whole communities choking under the weight of their own garbage, garbage that was ultimately made up of plastics and food waste. I couldn't understand why countries weren't able to turn garbage on its head. So, I was de- termined to create a solution that reduces waste by offering an eco-friendly alternative to traditional packaging. I wanted to close the loop. I spent nearly three years during the pandemic, experimenting in my laboratory (a spare room at my mother's house) with different food by-products. It took about 30 attempts before I finally got the formula right and had a market-ready prototype. STiR: What do you mean by close the loop? Cheah: AlterPacks isn't a packaging company. We're a new materials company that doesn't use any virgin resources, which means that our raw material has already gone through the ecosystem at least once. That is very important to us. We exclusively source agricultural waste and food by-products to extract plant fibers — by-products that would otherwise end up in a landfill or require multiple repro- cessing steps before being converted into animal feed. Rather than letting that happen, we collect spent grain from breweries and other food by-products to create plant fiber that gets molded and manufactured into a material that looks and feels like paper and cardboard but is actually 100% organic waste. We're closing the loop by offering a truly circular packaging solution that aligns with our principle: going beyond reduce, reuse, recycle. STiR: How do your takeaway cup lids and containers compare to traditional plastics or paper contain- ers lined with plastic coating? Cheah: First of all, our products contain absolutely no plastic whatsoever. Our material is 100% PFAS- free (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances). AlterPacks containers and lids can withstand extreme temperatures, -18°C (-0.4°F) to 260°C (500°F), and go directly from the freezer to the micro- wave. Our products don't leak, spill, or dent, and are certified by the US FDA/EU and Singapore as food contact safe. The best part is that they don't soften and disintegrate like other paper and bio-materials, allowing our containers to be washed and reused multiple times. Then, when it is time to dispose of them, they're 100% home compostable; simply tear them up and place them in your compost bin. The material breaks down naturally, providing nutrient-rich soil with no harmful residues. STiR: Why have you focused on manufacturing cup lids instead of cups? Cheah: Initially, we produced takeaway cups and lids, but encountered a common barrier when try- ing to sell them to coffee shops, cafés, and res- taurants. Everyone loves our material's natural colors, but when it came to cups, the first thing they would all ask was if they could brand them with their logos or change the colors. This would require a new formula each time, introducing man-made chemicals and dyes into the process, which could affect the composting. So we realized that if we wanted to make a bigger impact, we needed to focus solely on creating cup lids that completely replace the need for plastic ones. Currently, all the coffee cup AlterPacks' fully compostable cup lids fit any standard to-go cup and offer the coffee and tea industries a genuinely sustainable alternative to plastic lids. Photo credit: Diana Jendoubi Closing the Loop: Q&A With Karen Cheah, Founder of AlterPacks By Diana Jendoubi Determined to tackle the world's escalating plastic and food waste problem, Karen Cheah invented a new packaging material that turns food waste into fully compostable, eco-friendly to-go containers. Photo credit: AlterPacks lids on the market are either plastic or bioplastic, which come with their own problems and limita- tions. Once we started focusing on lids, we were able to achieve significant breakthroughs. STiR: What are usually the biggest concerns for coffee shop or brand owners? Cheah: Every coffee brand, shop, or restaurant owner wants the same thing — a pleasurable ex- perience for their customers. A coffee or tea lover wants to enjoy their drink on the go — without it spilling all over them, the cup disintegrating be- fore they can finish it, or detecting any unpleas- ant aromas and flavors. Our eco-friendly lids and containers offer customers a thoroughly satisfy- ing experience. The irony is that when we've approached some really big brands and offered to even take a loss by matching the prices of their plastic lids, the most common response is, "We like what you're offering, and we're interested in being more environmentally conscious, but we don't want to upset our current supply chain." The truth is, many brands talk the talk but are reluctant to put in the effort to back it up until they're forced to do so by either stricter govern- ment regulations or customers standing up and demanding eco-friendly alternatives. However, some brands and markets genuinely care about the environment and want to make a conscious effort to do better. We've al- ready started distribution beyond Singapore into Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand, and we're excited about our plans to enter the European market, including the United Kingdom.

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