Coffee buzz.

• Author: Johnson, Becky
• Position: NC TREND: Western Region

Americans' latte love affair has helped fuel a comeback for western North Carolina's largest paper mill. While overall paper use has declined sharply in the digital age, Evergreen Packaging in Canton is beating the odds thanks to rising demand for paper coffee cups.

The mill churns out 1,700 tons of paper a day, once equal parts smooth, white office paper and stiff paperboard, but that balance has shifted as demand for traditional paper wanes.

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"We have tried to be smart in our product mix and diversification to counter this trend," says Dane Griswold, the plant's general manager. Coffee cups have "always been in our portfolio, but in the past three to five years it has grown." Daily consumption of specialty coffee drinks has nearly tripled since 2008, and the number of coffee shops in the U.S. is projected to keep rising, according to the National Coffee Association.

The mill's foray into the coffee-cup market has also gotten a boost from the declining popularity of Styrofoam. Ostracized as an environmental menace, the product made of expanded polyestrene has been ditched by many coffee drinkers and retailers including McDonald's and Jamba Juice, while cities including Seattle and Washington, D.C., have banned it outright.

Ten years ago, the mill's signature paperboard line was threatened by a national move toward plastic, but the renewably sourced product is now hotter than ever, in everything from soy- milk cartons to ovenproof trays for convenience foods.

"We're seeing strong global consumer focus on the importance of sustainable paper-based packaging as a more eco-friendly option," says Griswold, who has been with the company for more than a decade.

The paper mill built on the banks of the Pigeon River in the early 1900s is adjacent to downtown Canton, with its...