How Again Again is making takeaway coffee better for the environment

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by Nada Piatek, co-founder and MD of Again Again.

Every year, New Zealanders throw out 300 million takeaway coffee cups. Even the ones that are compostable, most often aren’t composted – only one in 400 compostable coffee cups make it to the compost, in fact.Many people have Keep Cups, but not everyone always has their Keep Cup on them at all times. And then there aren’t many choices. But one New Zealand company is out to change that.

Again Again offers a service where users can pay $3 to borrow a reusable stainless steel cup with a lid. Bring it back, and you will get your $3 back, with the cafe washing it for future use. It saves cafes money on takeaway cups, and it reduces waste. So far it’s helped remove 840,000 cups from the waste stream each year, and it’s only just getting started.

Again Again began in Wellington, has 160 plus cafes around the country in the program, and is now looking to expand their impact and mission. They’re currently equity crowdfunding through PledgeMe – where they’re looking to raise at least $300k to help them expand to tackle other takeaway waste problems, including an exciting new project with Garage Project around their flagons.

The company co-founder and MD, Nada Piatek joined us by Zoom, for a chat about how 20 years of entrepreneurship and sustainability initiatives led to this concept, the raise and the goals of the company.

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