You may have noticed that our crew here at Paper Rain are truly passionate about, and are often inspired by those, trying to do the right thing - whether it be advocating and appreciating everyone in the production process (go fair trade!) or working toward better protection for our planet. In recent times we've been stoked to see more and more companies taking a stand and working for what they believe in, providing access to goods and services that help us all to achieve a better, kinder future together.
One such Kiwi company is "Again Again". If you haven't heard of them yet, they are new, awesome and are working toward eliminating one of our biggest contributors to landfill that so many of us have been guilty of contributing to - the disposable, single use takeaway coffee cup.
If you're anything like the crew here at Paper Rain, you LOVE your coffee! These days its awesome to see so many people walking around with their re-usable cups but we still have a long way to go. That's where Again Again steps in! They are working toward making it even easier to have your coffee AND be kind to the Earth (#win-win!).
We think it best if they explain what they're all about, so we had a wee chat with them - check it out below!
Image: © Again Again Limited.
How would you describe Again Again in a single sentence?
A cup lending network for on-demand takeaway coffee without the landfill.
Again Again's ultimate goal is to create a system that removes the need for single use plastic waste. A System that is cost-effective for businesses, that is there on demand, and protects convenience for customers.
So the idea of having a refundable lending system/network has been present ever since the beginning. However, the actual materials and details of the system has changed, is still changing, many times. For instance, plastic was considered as a material very briefly, but thankfully our research demonstrated clearly that that was not the best option.
How many cups are currently in circulation?This is currently quite a commercially sensitive number, but it is somewhere in the ball park of tens of thousands. The size of the network is continuously growing, with 60+ cafes in Wellington and 35+ cafes in Auckland. We are in Auckland Zoo and Wellington Airport.
Image: © Again Again Limited.
How long has Again Again been running, and how big is the team?
Again Again is just over a year young since Wellington launch in February 2019. Up until March 2020 we were a team of 4 [full and part-time], but in these unprecedented times we are 3; Nada Piatek, Melissa Firth, and David Binstead.
What professional skill sets did Melissa and Nada bring to the team, and what did they need to outsource?
Melissa deals primarily with high level strategy, while Nada deals primarily in Operations and B2B relationships. They have outsourced design, product construction, and some of the ground PR and relations work. To be honest, Nada is a complete powerhouse who unwaveringly does whatever is required whenever it is required. For instance, the website and many of the online tools that we now use daily, as well as some of the internal dev work, was completed by her.
Pictured above: Nada Piatek (left) Co-founder and MD, Melissa Firth (right) Co-founder (Image © Again Again Limited.)
Are there any companies overseas with similar concepts?
It is important to mention the network, as Again Again is less about the cups themselves and more about the network of cafes and touch points for the public.
There are a few Reusable cup swapping schemes in Aotearoa and abroad, but many of them suffer from similar limitations; most notably, cups disappear and eventually the government or governing body is required to top those up at full price. It becomes unscalable and unsuccessful very quickly. Whereas, Again Again has focused a considerable amount of planning toward being as scaleable and viable long-term.
The refundable lending fee ensures that motivation exists for the consumer to return the fleet into the system. The network of cafes all lending and refunding on behalf of Again Again ensures that there are multiple touch points at which a coffee drinker can engage with the system.
Finally, if people forget their cup, they are not required to purchase yet another personal reusable cup which goes dusty at home; they can borrow a second cup, a third, a fourth, and when they finally remember to bring them back, they get their entire lending fee back.
One or two similar systems can be found in places like Germany.
Image © Again Again Limited.
Whether you're an avid coffee drinker (like us!) or you are a conscientious cafe owner, you can learn more about Again Again and how you can get involved RIGHT HERE!
*Title Image & Logo © Again Again Limited.