Coffee: Company hopes to create alternative from native NZ plant

By Sally Murphy of RNZ A new company is hoping to create a coffee alternative from a native New Zealand plant. Zoffee founder and chief executive Jack Keeys said the idea first came to him a few years ago when he read an article from the 1870s about the Coprosma plant. It talked about its great economic potential and interesting properties — but further research showed nothing had happened since.

Initial funding from the Agricultural and Marketing Research and Development Trust three years ago helped develop a coffee-like drink, Keeys said, and now new funding from the Ministry for Primary Industries will help get the product to market..