Road Test: I Am Grounded coffee fruit bars

Coffee cherries usually end up as landfill. Not anymore.

I Am Grounded coffee fruit bars. Source: Supplied

What is it? An ­energy bar with the lot: antioxidant rich, vegan, gluten free, sustainable. And upcycled.

Upcycled? It’s made from coffee cherries, which usually end up as landfill. Their seeds are coffee beans.

So do they taste like coffee? Or fruit? Neither. There are three flavours, each with differing caffeine amounts. The lemon and coconut bar contains as much caffeine as a green tea. The espresso and tahini version has as much as your standard espresso.

Why not just have a banana and a cappuccino? It’s all about the earth. A by-product of the universal love of coffee, 20 billion kilos of coffee cherries are discarded each year, releasing 16.6 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Verdict: Best is the cocoa almond butter version: after a few seconds in the microwave it tastes like a rich chocolate brownie, without the guilt.

$44.95 for box of 10, au.iamgrounded.co