Huntsville’s FigBrew Puts a Modern Spin on a Historic Coffee Alternative to Support a More Sustainable Morning Ritual
If your day starts with brewing a cup of coffee at home or grabbing one from the office kitchen or local coffee shop, you’ve probably noticed that coffee bean prices are soaring. But that isn’t the only thing impacting coffee drinkers today.
The industry is grappling with sustainability challenges and increasingly unpredictable supply chains, raising questions about the future of our morning ritual.
Could figs be the answer to preserving our coffee culture?
What’s In A Cup Of Figs?
That’s what the team behind the Huntsville, Alabama-based brand FigBrew believes.
FigBrew’s Andy Whitehead and Marianne Whitehead had a “lifelong love of a single ingredient, dark, caffeinated beverage,” they told Hypepotamus. For Andy, it was coffee. For Marianne, tea.
But after decades of relying on coffee, Andy found himself increasingly affected by its acidic nature.
“Anybody who's drunk coffee has typically explored the upper bounds of consumption,” he added. So he was in search of an alternative.In 2019, Andy read an article about when coffee was rationed during World War II, Americans back home started roasting figs and adding them to their coffee to enhance the beverage’s flavor. While the process fell out of favor after the war, Andy found the health benefits were hard to ignore. As a single-ingredient product, brewed figs offer digestive benefits and provide a hot beverage alternative for those who are caffeine-sensitive or acid-averse. Andy describes the flavor profile as "nutty, slight taste of caramel, somewhat earthy, with overtones of fruit."
The team started working on the product in 2019, ultimately shipping their first batch in early 2021. Today, the brand is largely focused on its ecommerce business but it does provide wholesale options.
The team recently announced a partnership with Northshore Specialty Coffee, launching what they believe is the coffee industry’s first 50/50 premium coffee plus roasted fig blend. It also received the away of Best Decaf Coffee at the 2025 New Orleans Coffee Festival.
"It's nothing we invented, but we're reintroducing it to a population that has never heard of fig coffee before," Andy added.
Truly Local Brew Options
Manufacturing in Huntsville, Alabama, and sourcing organic, sun-dried figs from the Mediterranean, the company is building out both sustainability and supply chain innovations.
The company has started a fig farm locally in nearby Morgan County to control their supply chain from start to finish. This is something no U.S. coffee company can claim since coffee cannot grow domestically.
"Our long-term goal is to basically recreate the coffee culture with something that's single ingredient, organic, and healthy, but much more sustainable than coffee," Andy said.
Figs offer environmental advantages, using one-thirteenth of the carbon and one-eighth of the water compared to coffee production.
"Health, primarily digestive health, is front and center. But behind the scenes, the coffee culture is under severe strain. Coffee prices are at an all-time high because of disease, climate change, and deforestation. Experts say the coffee market in 2050 will not look the same," Andy added.
Brewing In “Rocket City”
Now, the Whiteheads know FigBrew is an outlier among Huntsville startups, where the aerospace industry often takes center stage.
"If you want to start a technology company in Huntsville, you have any number of mentors from a manufacturing standpoint—this is the birthplace of contract manufacturing," Andy said. "If you wanted to start a CPG food and beverage company, not so much."
FigBrew aims to change that dynamic.
"It's a great place to start a business, and there's no reason in the world it cannot also support a vibrant food and beverage manufacturing arena,” Andy added.
Quick Facts on FigBrew
HQ: Huntsville, Alabama
Founded: 2019
Industries: consumer product, food & beverage, ecommerce
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