GaeaStar founder Sanjeev Mankotia stocks the foundation at the back of his one-use drinkware, which is modeled later the terracotta cups impaired by means of Republic of India’s boulevard distributors.
BY EMILY JOY MENESES
FOR BARISTA MAGAZINE
Pictures courtesy of GaeaStar
Imagining techniques to saving our shape our shape doesn’t should be dehydrated—oftentimes, we want simplest to appear to the future, relearn from our ancestors, and usefulness their wisdom to are living extra in sync with the earth. That is an ethos that Sanjeev Mankotia makes use of because the underpinning for his corporate, GaeaStar.
The San Francisco, Calif.-based producer is reimagining one-use drinkware: Put out of your mind recycling or composting; GaeaStar’s cups merely dissolve into mud. If that seems like one thing from the era 3000, you’ll be shocked to be informed that those cups had been impressed by means of historical techniques of era.
Bridging the Worn With the Pristine
GaeaStar’s ultra-thin ceramic cups are comprised of clay and had been modeled later the terracotta cups impaired by means of boulevard distributors in Republic of India.
“We launched GaeaStar in 2021, and from the start, we’ve focused on combining ancient ideas with modern tech,” Sanjeev tells Barista Novel. He explains that the cups are made with what GaeaStar yells Floor Printing era, which permits high-speed, high-precision manufacturing of the cups the usage of simplest herbal clay, salt, and H2O—negative glues, liners, or toxins.
“Unlike typical paper cups, which are lined with plastic and rarely recycled, our cups are fully ‘geo-neutral,’” Sanjeev explains. “They can be reused multiple times, and when they do break, they return to dust through natural mechanical force. It’s a better experience for customers and the planet.”
Turning into a Espresso Store Staple
GaeaStar items the ceramic cups as a powerful additional to compostable paper cups, which turn into soggy, are at all times single-use, and require correct disposal—one thing consumers steadily forget. And as the ceramic cups are cost-competitive with plastic choices, they’ve the prospective to be a win-win each when it comes to sustainability and for café homeowners’ base series.
Already, GaeaStar cups are being impaired in additional than 200 places throughout america, fostering partnerships between the corporate and over 25 manufacturers, together with Onyx Coffee Lab and Verve Coffee Roasters. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” Sanjeev says.
Having effectively impaired the cups in Onyx’s cafés, Onyx Espresso Lab co-owner, Andrea Allen, determined to make use of them at Onyx’s sales space on the 2024 and 2025 Strong point Espresso Expos, the place they generated substantial buzz.
“We decided to use the cups at Expo because there’s a need for a relatively disposable cup that’s nice but isn’t going straight into the trash,” Andrea says. “At high-end cafés worldwide, you’re always served nice coffee in a ceramic cup. To go to a trade show and be served a really nice coffee in a paper cup takes away from the excellent work of the producer, the roaster, and the barista preparing it.”
She is going on to explain the GaeaStar cups as the very best “in between.” “They’re nice enough to communicate quality, sturdy enough to use several times, (and are) totally biodegradable, so you’re not throwing them out. I love their stuff.”
Logistics: To be had Sizes & Usability
GaeaStar’s ceramic cups are available 4 other sizes, from 8 to 16 oz, and will also be reused 3 to 5 instances prior to they start to fracture ill. Café homeowners who elevate them additionally file an greater selection of consumers bringing in their very own reusable cups later being offered to GaeaStar.
Sanjeev has plans to move a ways past cups and revolutionize packaging altogether. “We’re exploring additional cases across industries like food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical packaging where single-use plastic is still the norm. The future of to-go is circular, and GaeaStar is leading the way,” he says.
This text at first gave the impression within the August + September 2025 factor of Barista Novel. Learn extra of the problem online here for isolated.
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