DALLAS — Coffee is one of the most traded commodities in the world, so it’s no wonder that single-serve coffee makers like Keurig are thriving. However, having coffee made that quickly and conveniently can come at the cost of quality.
“It’s really against the laws of physics to make a great cup of coffee in about a minute,” said Sam Fahmy, a serial entrepreneur.
Highland Park-based startup Clio Coffee launched in August and was founded on the basis of creating a quality cup of coffee that has the added convenience of a single-cup brewing through its high-pressure brewing system, said Fahmy, a founder of the startup and chairman of the board.
The subscription-based company has been in the works for the past 15 years. More than a decade was spent on researching and developing its high-pressure brewing technology in Italy. Then the company adapted the European technology to American tastes.
Fahmy also said being environmentally-conscious and friendly was a main focus of the coffee startup.
“It’s been important for us since day one. When introducing a pod systems, one of the limitations is recyclability,” he said. “The more plastic you use for each cup of coffee, the less environmentally friendly it is.”
Clio Coffee’s pods are fully recyclable and use 70 percent less material than the average single-cup coffee brand, while also producing 60 percent more coffee in each cup. The company also brews all of its own coffee, and doesn’t rely on retailers, distributors or intermediaries.
Fahmy explained that all of the funding has been internal and private, and that about 50 people have been working on starting up the Dallas-based company. Eight people directly work at Clio currently.
The company plans to grow its team to about 40 to 50 people based in Dallas by about 2020, focusing first on expansion in the Dallas area.
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