Coffee chain ditching cups in 2020, customers must "rent" or bring their own

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/12/12/coffee-chain-ditching-cups-in.html

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Nestle begins to bow to social pressure.

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No problem. I just take my coffee like this:

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This is a great step, but I can just see some real life trolls standing outside the coffee shops, handing out styrofoam cups to people walking in.

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Nothing an individual does matters if the world doesn’t address fossil fuels and that industry.

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Another pilot project for the new normal of global warming. Eventually we’ll see Starbucks and McD’s doing the same.

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This model works really well for the mulled wine stands at German Christmas markets. However, Germans are already familiar with paying a Pfand deposit for bottled beer and most other bottled drinks, so extending the model to the rustic pottery cups they serve mulled wine in is fairly easy.

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Similarly, beer festivals in the UK sell you a glass at the entrance which you can return for most of your money back when you leave, though most visitors keep them as a souvenir.

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Blue Bottle is probably the best choice for this. It’s clientelle are already:

  1. Chemically addicted
  2. Already probably going out of their way for a premium product
  3. Priveleged enough that they can swing a $5 latte.

These are exactly the folks who will be able to roll bringing a travel mug into their routine. Starbucks, and McDonalds, with their hyper-saturation and everyman-appeal, will have a much harder time making something like this stick.

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Interesting - there must be some dispensation to do that since most beer-serving outside of pubs has to be in safe plastic glasses these days.

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There are slightly more substantial plastic glasses used by brewers at Twickenham (and other rugby venues) which have a deposit on return to a kiosk, kids make a small fortune collecting empties.

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Starbucks has been trying mediocre ways of getting people to use their own cups for a few years now – offering a 10c (ooh, ten cents!) discount for using your own mug, offering reusable cups that look more or less like the iconic disposable one, and offering ceramic mugs for dine-in customers.

But they frankly don’t have the infrastructure to deal with everyone bringing in rented mugs to wash. Even Blue Bottle acknowledges that they don’t know if they can handle it themselves without hugely slowing down lines and bringing on extra staff.

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so…10% waste then.

I like this, but is it going to be one of those situations were some people get the cup, bring it home and then when they have like 4 dozen of them they just throw them away. making the cups still single use, but just much more expensive (in both costs and resources) then a normal single use cup? I know not everyone will do this, but what is the breaking point where this becomes a negative and not a plus.

(note: i use a mug at work and almost always use a reusable travel mug when i get coffee out which is only a few time a month)

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I don’t expect the initaitive to last. Buying coffee outside of the home is a convenience. This would not be convenient for most. Nestle won’t stand for the drop in revenue.

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I don’t know but all upscale bars and coffee and not so posh will give you a glass or ceramic cup and then wash it in a dishwasher. Having a coffee in a plasitc or paper cup is cheap…

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True, but one may also make a case that the world won’t address fossil fuels unless and until a critical mass of individual action is taken as well.

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I would find that hilarious, it’s like shooting your self in the foot. When I worked in a coffee shop many years ago, the cup, sleeve, and lid each on their own cost more than the coffee that went into the cup for brewed coffee. If someone wants to waste their own money on disposable cups to make a point let them be dumb, they could have mostly the same impact by buying the cups and Instagraming them throwing them in the trash unopened.

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Not to mention the fact that some drinks (espresso in particular) are better in ceramic…

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Not to go. They are renting you the cup if you wish to take your coffee with you and don’t have your own reusable container.

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This is good news. Have they said how much the price is going to drop?

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