Dive Brief:
- Australian inventor Dave Hopper developed, Quikstix, a means of getting freshly-brewed coffee or tea, complete with with sugar and creamer without a special machine.
- Quikstix is a tube made from food-grade polyethylene-coated kraft paper that is divided into two sections: One contains sugar and creamer, and the other houses the beverage of choice. Users simply tear off the handle end tag and tip the sugar and/or creamer into a cup and add hot water.
- The brew of choice comes into the drink through the perforated end, and the strength can be adjusted by the number of times the tube is stirred into the cup.
Dive Insight:
Quikstix technology is licensed, including the machine and materials, to manufacture the product. The food manufacturer supplies its own ingredients (coffee, tea, milk, sugar, etc.), allowing it to produce its own, branded Quikstix under license for around 10 cents per unit, according to its inventor. Certainly, this design is a lot more environmentally friendly than the plastic pods used in K-cup machines. Add in the fact that no extra electricity is needed to run a Keurig-style machine, the devices have a much smaller carbon footprint. Certainly, that makes Quikstix something to think about for anyone who likes the idea of brewing one cup of coffee at a time, but doesn't want to contribute to the waste caused by all those K-cups.