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New setting of Coffee grounds-raising cattle

Published: 2026-08-11 Author: World Gafei

Last Updated: 2026/08/11, Starbucks in Japan has developed the latest fermentation technology to raise cattle and produce milk with coffee grounds, Taiwan's United News Network reported on the 25th.

Starbucks in Japan recently partnered with Menicon, a contact lens company, to successfully develop the latest lactic acid fermentation technology that allows coffee grounds to be converted into dairy cattle feed. The quality of the milk produced is excellent, and it has become a popular added milk for Starbucks in Japan.

Coffee is the world's most traded agricultural product, with 9.34 million packets of coffee beans circulating internationally between 2009 and 2010 alone, according to the International Coffee Organization, while roasted, brewed coffee grounds are mostly discarded, buried, composted or incinerated. To solve the problem of resource waste, Starbucks has teamed up with Menicon, a Japanese contact lens company, to develop new technology that allows coffee grounds to be recycled and used as feed for dairy cows.

Menicon's fermentation technology was originally tested to find new uses for rice straw, but unexpectedly, the lactic acid fermentation technology developed by Menicon can improve the nutritional value of coffee grounds, and can also be used to feed cattle. Compared with directly discarding or using it as a mixed fertilizer, it can give full play to the nutritional components of coffee grounds.

According to reports, Professor He He of the Veterinary College of Azabu University said that somatic cell count in milk is an important indicator to judge the quality of milk. If the number is lower, it means that the quality is better, and milk with higher somatic cells is more suitable for making yogurt, cheese and other by-products. Cows fed coffee grounds did produce lower somatic cell counts in milk than cows in general.

But Starbucks is also faced with how to collect coffee grounds collected from 1,000 Starbucks outlets across Japan in the shortest time possible. Therefore, they have added special storage areas to the container trucks for refrigerated products. Under the consideration of hygiene and efficiency, there is no need to send additional trucks to transport coffee grounds, and there will be no additional carbon emissions. The coffee grounds are collected from each branch and processed centrally by the recycling center, which uses the latest lactic acid fermentation technology to enhance the nutritional value of coffee grounds.

A Starbucks spokesman in Japan said customers who tried milk from cows raised with coffee grounds had mostly responded positively. Starbucks also uses fermented coffee grounds as organic plant fertilizer to serve as a delicacy on customers 'tables.

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