World's only 100% compostable coffee pods are made in Central Virginia: 'We're running this thing 24/7'

    CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Virginia (WTVR) -- Guide Roasting Company's coffee shop sits in a secluded business park off Powhite Parkway in Midlothian.

Its cafe is usually silent on Sundays, when it's closed, but in its back room, you can hear the cadence of a machine, making compostable instant coffee pods you can use in a Keurig, around the clock.

"We're kind of running this thing 24/7 now to keep up," said Julie Kratzer, who owns Guide Roasting, its front-facing coffee shop, and its sister company Green Pod Coffee Packing.

Kratzer said the machine, which churns out millions of K-cups a year, is the only one in the world making instant coffee pods with freshly roasted grounds that is 100% compostable, including the packaging.

The pod-making, roasting, and front-facing cafe business combined has doubled year-over-year since first starting during the COVID-19 pandemic, with most of the revenue coming from partnerships with small-owned coffee roasters across the nation.

But recently, more people are traveling in the area, searching for a quick cup of coffee, and finding out that Guide Coffee is more than just a storefront, thanks to growing sports tourism in the area, largely due to the River City Sportsplex.

“You don’t really find us by accident since we’re back here. So one thing we’ve noticed with the sports complex, there are a lot more soccer games now than when we first came in, and we’re seeing a lot of business pick up just from that," Kratzer said.

Within the last week, Chesterfield County leaders broke ground for a new spray park at the Sportsplex, and announced the return of Southside Speedway, a stock-car track that brought in racing fans near and far before shuttering in 2020.

“We feel like people are buying our coffee even when they go home from there, so even if they’re not local, they come in, they really like it, they go home after their tournament, and they buy coffee," Kratzer said. "So we’re hoping to see that kind of growth with the Speedway too. Maybe more people will find us because it is kind of hard to get back here and just notice us by accident."

Kratzer said she hopes sports fans searching for their next sip of coffee can come to their location and come away with a new desire to brew coffee in a more eco-friendly way.

“We’re trying to be a piece of that education and help people kind of connect the dots with what they can compost and how easy it can be," she said.