At I Am Grounded, we’re driven by a simple mission: to turn waste into something wonderful. My name is Vanessa Murillo, and alongside my partner Lachlan Powell, we founded this company with the goal of creating a healthier, more sustainable world—one snack at a time.
Growing up in a coffee-loving household in Colombia, I saw firsthand the enormous waste generated by the coffee industry.
When we first started, the numbers were staggering: globally, the coffee industry wastes 20 billion kilos of coffee fruit each year. That’s enough to fill over 3,300 Olympic-size swimming pools and generate 16 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.
We started this journey in late 2018 because we wanted to introduce a naturally caffeinated energy source that was also rooted in sustainability.
I’m so proud of what we’ve done. By upcycling this coffee fruit and creating I Am Grounded, we’ve already prevented over 33,000 kilos from ending up in landfill. It’s a small step, but one that makes a big difference - but we can’t do it without the customers who support us.