Case study: Cat & Cow Coffee's single-use surcharge

Although the shift away from reusables as a result of Covid remains a challenge, the café estimates it currently converts at least 50% of take-away customers to reusables – resulting in at least a 50% reduction in single-use packaging costs each month. “Before Covid, people were bringing their own cup every day, but then they stopped, and many people still opt for the single-use now,” Lenka Kriz explained.

During Covid, they engineered a “contactless pour” method for those bringing in clean keep cups and put a 50c single-use surcharge in place. The money collected from the surcharge was and still is donated to charity. Once restrictions were lifted, they resumed encouraging dine-in, promoting BYO reusables and offering customers use of a mug library. The surcharged remained, and the proceeds are still donated to charity.

The benefit of sticking with a steadfast commitment to reusables is clear – Cat & Cow has successfully maintained its loyal base of sustainability-minded customers and it continues to attract more. Implementing a surcharge on single-use cups from the moment they started to stock them has amplified the café’s vision. “It is a great conversation starter and makes people stop and think about their impact.” Cat & Cow continues to capitalise on its stance by using its platform to educate the public on reducing waste. “People are very supportive and often come to us with more ideas.”

The secret to the café’s success of the café is its wholistic approach. “We offer no single-use plastics in our customer interaction,” Lenka Kriz stressed. “We have glass alternatives for our cold drinks, and we use a deposit scheme for those. We also wash hand towels and napkins for our customers.”

Cat & Cow even offers a free ceramic mug to our customers as a way of discouraging single-use cups. Combined with the mug library for coffee and glass jars for smoothies, plus encouraging everyone to BYO, there is a reusable alternative to suit everyone. Staff are trained to share their knowledge of reusables and communicate clearly with customers, offering sustainable solutions for every sale.

It’s a model Lenka and Jacob Kriz believe should be widely adopted. “It would be great to see legislation that says all businesses must offer a reuse option and a single-use surcharge,” Lenka Kriz said. “There are so many challenges for small businesses at the moment and many people don’t have sustainability on the top of their list. If there was any way to financially support the businesses who reuse, that would be great, too. And it would lead to a systemic change.”