Podcast 317: He turned coffee waste into skincare. The industry said it was the wrong colour

The beauty industry says it wants to go natural – but does it really mean it?

In this week’s episode of Green Beauty Conversations, Formula Botanica CEO Lorraine Dallmeier is joined by special guest Alejandro Franco, co-founder and CCO of Kaffe Bueno, a bioscience company upcycling coffee waste into high-performance natural ingredients.

Together, they uncover a contradiction that sits right at the heart of the industry.

While beauty brands champion plant-based ingredients and sustainability, they often reject the very qualities that make natural ingredients real – notably their colour, scent and texture. And nowhere is this tension more visible than in the story of coffee waste.

In this episode, Alejandro Franco shares how he built a pioneering bioscience company that transforms discarded coffee grounds into high-performance cosmetic ingredients.

From humble beginnings collecting waste from cafés to launching the world’s first coffee biorefinery, this is a story of innovation, persistence, and challenging deeply ingrained industry norms.

Tune in now to discover why the industry’s obsession with white formulations might be holding it back – and how coffee waste might just be the key to unlocking truly natural beauty.

If you care about sustainability, formulation or the future of green beauty, this episode is for you. Just be warned: it will change the way you think about ingredients forever.

“If you want nature in your products, then bring nature to your products – not just a version of it where you’ve removed everything that makes it natural.” — Alejandro Franco

In this episode with Alejandro Franco, you will hear:

• The origin story of Kaffe Bueno: Alejandro shares how a simple observation in London cafés sparked a global business idea. Watching tonnes of coffee grounds being thrown away led him and his co-founders to question why such a resource was wasted. Their curiosity turned into a mission to unlock the hidden value within coffee waste, and Kaffe Bueno was born.
• The hidden science behind coffee waste: Most people think coffee is just about caffeine, but Alejandro explains that caffeine makes up only around 2% of the bean. The rest contains oils, antioxidants, fibres and bioactive compounds with powerful cosmetic benefits. This discovery became the foundation for developing high-performance cosmetic ingredients from waste.
• Building the world’s first coffee biorefinery: Alejandro walks us through what a biorefinery actually is and how it works in practice. By breaking down spent coffee grounds into their core components, Kaffe Bueno creates multiple ingredients, including oils and biopolymers. This approach maximises value while minimising waste.
• Why the beauty industry struggles with brown ingredients: Despite strong sustainability messaging, many brands still hesitate when faced with ingredients that aren’t white or odourless. Alejandro unpacks why colour and scent are viewed as barriers in mainstream beauty, even when they signal potency. This reveals a deeper contradiction in how the industry approaches natural formulations.
• Challenging the ‘white beauty’ standard: Alejandro passionately discusses why the pursuit of perfectly white formulations can strip ingredients of their effectiveness. Removing colour often means removing bioactive compounds. He argues that the industry must rethink its standards if it truly wants to embrace nature.

Key takeouts include:

• Coffee waste is an untapped resource: Every year, millions of tonnes of coffee waste are generated globally, much of which ends up in landfill, producing methane emissions. Yet this so-called “waste” contains valuable compounds that can be repurposed into high-performance ingredients. By rethinking waste streams, the beauty industry can significantly reduce its environmental impact. This represents a major opportunity for circular beauty and innovation.
• Natural doesn’t always look the way we expect: Consumers and brands often associate quality with white, odourless formulations. However, true natural ingredients often carry colour, scent and variation. By rejecting these characteristics, the industry risks removing the very properties that make ingredients effective. A shift in perception is needed to align expectations with reality.
• Upcycling is gaining momentum – but it took time: When Alejandro first introduced upcycled ingredients, the concept was largely misunderstood. Over time, especially post-pandemic, awareness has grown significantly. Today, upcycling is a major trend, but early pioneers had to overcome scepticism and slow adoption. This highlights how innovation often requires patience and persistence.
• Efficacy still drives decision-making: Sustainability may attract interest, but performance and cost ultimately determine whether an ingredient is adopted. Brands need ingredients that work – and consumers expect results. This means that sustainable solutions must also deliver measurable benefits to succeed in the market.
• The industry must embrace a broader definition of beauty: The fixation on uniformity – particularly colour – limits innovation and authenticity. By embracing ingredients in their natural state, the industry can move closer to its sustainability goals. This requires re-educating both brands and consumers about what “natural” truly means.

Meet our guest: Alejandro Franco, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Kaffe Bueno

Alejandro is the Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Kaffe Bueno. With his background in business and biochemistry, he is the bridge between the market and R&D, ensuring the company’s innovations address specific market needs and consumer pains.

Kaffe Bueno is an award-winning Danish bioscience company producing functional and active ingredients by upcycling coffee by-products. It was founded in 2016, and has since built the world’s first coffee biorefinery, aiming to unlock the full potential of coffee for applications in personal care, nutrition and other industries.

Alejandro oversees the business development, overall commercial strategy and operations, strategic partnership development, and circular projects at Kaffe Bueno.

Find out more about Alejandro & Kaffe Bueno:

• Website: Kaffe Bueno
• LinkedIn: Alejandro Franco | Kaffe Bueno

You can also subscribe to Kaffe Bueno’s LinkedIn newsletter for more insights about circular innovation and upcycled ingredients.

Related episodes:

• Episode 59: How Upcycled Waste built a global beauty brand
• Episode 299: Meet the supplier turning the world’s coffee waste into skincare

Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please share, subscribe and review this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.

Lorraine Dallmeier

Lorraine Dallmeier is a Biologist, Chartered Environmentalist and the CEO of Formula Botanica, the award-winning online organic cosmetic science school. Read more about Lorraine and the Formula Botanica Team.