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 managing director of Again Again.

Every year, New Zealanders throw out 300 million takeaway coffee cups. Most of the compostable ones aren’t even composted – only one in 400 make it to the compost.

Many people have Keep Cups, but not everyone always has their Keep Cup with them at all times. Then they don’t have many options to choose from, 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. When you bring it back, you’ll get your $3 refunded, with the cafe washing it for future use. Not only does it reduce waste, it saves cafes money on takeaway cups. So far it’s helped remove 840,000 cups from the waste stream each year, and it’s only just getting started. 

Having started in Wellington, Again Again is currently in more than 160 cafes across New Zealand. It’s now looking to expand its impact and mission through equity crowdfunding on PledgeMe where it’s aiming to raise at least $300,000 to tackle other takeaway waste problems, including an exciting new project with Garage Project around its flagons.

The company’s co-founder and managing director, Nada Piatek, joined us by Zoom for a chat on how 20 years of entrepreneurship and sustainability initiatives led to this concept, the equity crowdfunding raise and the goals of the company.

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