Australia

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Abigail and her brother have wanted, Coffee -drinkers, the reusable option when it came to the cups

The Bbc , the weekly-in-chief-series-profiles of various executives from all over The World . This Week , we speak to Abigail Forsyth, founder and Managing Director of re-usable cup business KeepCup.

If Abigail Forsyth first came up with the idea of Manufacturing and distribution of reusable Coffee cups, one of The First Designer you approached to help, was completely negative.

"He told me it was the stupidest idea he had ever seen," recalled Abigail .

not improve things, if you then went to a possible manufacturer. "He Said to me, 'this is just a Cup. There are a bunch of things that are made by people [] a lot smarter and more useful than what you have done, [and Sell them]'. "

The cups come in a variety of sizes and colors

This Was in 2008 in Melbourne, Australia . Abigail and her brother Jamie had come up with the idea for KeepCup, because they were always terrified of the Billions of single-use Coffee cups that end up in landfills each year.

she knew first-hand how bad The Situation was, because they had to be running in the previous 10 Years , a small chain of Coffee shops. And so they were determined to try to Do Something about it.

Instead of having to disturb or put off by The Initial negativity faced, Abigail says, it made them determined to make the job as difficult as possible, to lead The Company to success. "It was a real wake-up call," says the 48-year-old.

Fast Forward to today, and KeepCup now has More Than 10 million cups sold around The World . The Company estimates that this has prevented around eight billion disposable go those in the trash cans to dispose of.

Billions of single-use Coffee cups are to be stored each year around The World

Born in Glasgow, but grew up in Melbourne, Abigail initially training as a lawyer. After working as a lawyer for the Four Years from 1994, she then quit to join the Café business.

As the siblings began working on The First draft of The First plastic KeepCups, Abigail says that it was Jamie who insisted that it is a desirable Product , with many bright colors.

"Jamie was always to say that its sexy to be got, and I was probably more along the lines of "it must be sustainable," she says.

With The First batch of cups produced started of early in the year of 2009, officially, The Product at a design fair in Melbourne. Abigail says the cups were an immediate hit, and they sold 1,000 in the space of six Hours .

Abigail and her brother, previously a chain of Coffee shops

delivery"In the case of this first design market, it was all about the design," she says. "The people said:" I don't know what it is, but I Want One '.

"It quickly became clear that the people and would want to buy because you liked the color or the design, or what it said about you, such as a Coffee drinker.

"And to change the behavior would only follow because they, how to use The Product , rather than something to do because it is doing a worthwhile thing to do, but it is a bit inconvenient. "

With the cups in different sizes, from 120 ml for Espresso, up to a 474ml for great iced Coffee , or smoothies, KeepCup begins with the sale of both cafes and direct to consumers through their website.

He also sells to corporate customers, which include the Australian airline Qantas and The Bank of England .

manufactured in the UK and Australia

the sales have steadily grown over The Years , thanks to positive word-of-mouth, and participation in trade fairs. The annual turnover of

growth was all organic, with The Company not only any external investors. In 2014, Abigail , her brother, who now runs bought lunchbox-business BeetBox.

To back up your eco-friendliness, all the KeepCup is the production is completed, the local in its two main Markets - Australia and the United Kingdom. This is to avoid the pollution that otherwise would have been produced by shipping them from China or other countries with lower production costs.

All of its packaging is either from recycled paper or Forest Stewardship Certified paper and cardboard. Now headquartered in Melbourne and London are both solar powered, and The Company now donates 1% of sales to environmental projects after signing up to

Paul Klymenko, chief executive of the Australian environmental group Planet Ark , says that "for over a decade, KeepCup were pioneers in the field of durable and reusable products that contribute to The Creation of a circular economy".

He adds that The Company "created the products that people enjoy using time after time, the minimization of waste and reduce The Need for natural resources such as trees".

Additional features:

Back in the KeepCup, Abigail said The Business was "strong at the end of Covid-19 pandemic affected" by the ongoing. While most of the Coffee shops remain in the major Markets are closed, to accept other refuse, reusable Cup.

"you can re-use, and takes more," she says. "For extra precaution, a number of cafes, the dosage of a shell are now to the other, or the washing of returnable before filling.

"["And"] " many of our customers have ask in contact us also continue to oppose the single-use, in particular, that the single-use does not equal sterile. "

Coffee -shop-closures KeepCup sales

have you met adds that KeepCup users should always keep their shells clean and dry when not in use.

behind-coronavirus, Abigail says she wants to see KeepCup to how The Business ", which kick-started the demise of the disposable Cup".

she adds: "people have always said: 'how can you have a company with only one Product , a Cup?'. But I think it is like The Gateway drug, it is The Conversation of sustainability and the waste opens, and frees the people up to it in your own life, but you choose. "

entrepreneurship, lifestyle, recycling, female entrepreneurs, sustainable living, coffee, coffee production

Source of news: bbc.com