GOLDEN, Colo. — Out of a garage in Golden, a duo is hard at work producing and packaging eco-friendly fire products for the community.
Maddie Cataldo and Maya Nefs formed a friendship on the ice, but now their focus is shifted to fire through their work on Blazin' Joe.
"Blazin' Joe makes superior fire logs and fire starters from coffee waste," Nefs explained. "We get the coffee waste from local roasters around town. We bring it back here to the garage, and then we do the production, and we mix the coffee chaff with soy wax."
The two played hockey at the University of Colorado Boulder and worked on the company in their capstone class. However, the idea came from Cataldo's father, who realized coffee grounds were a strong source of fuel.
"He actually found out that coffee has a higher energy content than wood, so it burns hotter, longer, and cleaner, and we saw a huge opportunity to do that," Cataldo said. "He didn't end up starting the business, so I figured I would do it in my capstone class."
While the business started using coffee grounds to make its products, the duo realized it was "super energy intensive to dry them" and asked coffee companies for other ways to make their products. They learned about coffee chaff, also known as coffee husk, which is often thrown out.
- Cataldo explains what coffee chaff is and how it's made in the video below
So instead of discarding trash bags full of coffee chaff, Blazin Joe uses this waste to make its products.
"Every roaster we talk to has been very excited about what we're doing, and they're super happy to give us this waste because, like I said, they're either composting it or throwing it into landfills right now," Cataldo said. "So, to have a solution where you actually repurpose it is really exciting for them."
While Blazin' Joe sells products online, this past year, the fire starters and logs were picked up by local retailers, including Ace Hardware at Westwoods and Lake Ridge, along with Lucky's Market and McGuckin Hardware.
"We were selling the products at farmers markets, little holiday markets. We started slow and then yeah, we had a big push of momentum last September and got new packaging sorted out and got everything ready to get started on the shelves this past January," Nefs said. "Since then, we've just been pushing to bring on new retailers and get our products out to as many people as we can."
Recently, the business was awarded the grand prize at the 2025 NextCycle Competition. NextCycle is a six-month program that Colorado Circular Communities Enterprise offers to help divert waste from landfills and improve recycling rates.
"They get to walk away from that competition with a professionally edited and recorded video to help promote their business going forward, and then they have ongoing access to financial service information, grant dollars, and mentors assigned specifically for their type of program," Kendra Appelman-Eastvedt, outreach and technical assistance unit manager for the Colorado Circular Communities Enterprise Program, told Denver7.
The program started in 2018 with 50 teams participating in the program. This year, there were a total of seven teams with ideas around environmental products or diverting waste.
"We had sustainability experts that came in and did some life cycle analysis work for us and really helped us make sure that we're being as sustainable as we can, and then we had that pitch competition at the end, which was so exciting," Cataldo said.
Blazin' Joe was awarded $5,000 at the end of the competition, which they say will help with marketing and production efforts to keep up with new demand.
"It's a grind, and I think that's why having a partner and, really, a teammate is so critical," Nefs said. "We have been doing a really good job of splitting off responsibilities, but yeah, every day both of us are in the garage."
While they may be working out of a garage for now, there is fuel to keep expanding and educating.
