Since their launch in 1998, Melbourne’s Bluebag has been a leader in the pre-made gourmet sandwich industry.
One of the biggest issues with a takeaway food business is the amount of waste it produces. Although some packaging is unavoidable, Bluebag was certain that with a slight change in consumer habits, they could achieve a positive environmental change.
To tackle this issue of waste, Bluebag conceived the idea of a reusable takeaway coffee cup that would fit seamlessly into the barista environment. By providing an alternative to paper or polystyrene cups, Bluebag could not only reduce their negative environmental impact and that of coffee consumers, but the company could also save money on one of their largest non-food consumables.
Industrial designers, CobaltNiche were brought on board to help turn the concept into a viable reality while graphic designers, Southsouthwest were engaged to work on a website brand and design to effectively communicate the cup to target audiences.
Whilst there were thermoses and insulated travel cups on the market, nothing came close to the functionality and convenience of the proposed takeaway coffee cup. This lack of precedent for the product created challenges for the client and designers alike.
CobaltNiche undertook extensive research into the espresso coffee industry, identifying the key need to address the frantic pace of baristas during the busy periods at cafés in the design of the cup. The cup needed to be the same or of similar external dimensions to disposable cups currently in use. It needed to be capable of holding similar volumes to existing cups so customers would not be inadvertently penalised for using it and, importantly, the material and processes used to create the cup could not create more problems for the environment than the cup aimed to solve.
Southsouthwest faced the challenge of presenting the cup in a market that did not exist with the aim of persuading people to change their habits, through arguments for environmental cost, functionality and convenience. Bluebag identified three separate markets for the cup: coffee drinkers, resellers and organisations (who could purchase the cups for their clients, members or staff); part of the challenge for Southsouthwest was to target and connect with all three distinctly different markets in a single website.
Introducing the KeepCup
After months of hard work, the KeepCup came to fruition. The functional design takes into account the various needs of the coffee drinker: the lid functions as a spill-resistant seal and features a plug that seals the sipping hole for the coffee drinker on the move and swivels to one side during drinking. An insulating band around the cup that protects the hand from heat doubles as a ‘coffee identifier’ enabling the KeepCup owner to mark their favourite hot beverage and thus avoiding confusion in a busy café.
The smooth curves of the KeepCup that set it apart from its competitors are mirrored in the website. The website cements the brand; an interactive, animated homepage highlights the functional and environmental aspects of the cup and an environmental footprint calculator shows the visitor how much energy, wood pulp and plastic they will save by using the KeepCup.
The KeepCup and website were launched in June 2009 and were met with a terrific response from all three intended markets.
Prior to the launch, Bluebag pitched the KeepCup to corporations and have, to date, secured over 15,000 sales to various organisations.
The website received over 5,000 hits in one day and, within six weeks more than 1,800 KeepCups were sold internationally through the online store.
In its first six months KeepCup sold over 100,000 units. According to Bluebag, if everybody who owns a KeepCup uses it regularly, the environmental benefits would be:
- reducing the use of disposable cups by 100 million (that’s 1,500 tonnes of disposable cups)
- saving 17,000 trees from being turned into paper cups
- keeping 307 tonnes of plastic lids from landfill.
Download the full case studies
Click here to read Hot Contents, Cool Design - the KeepCup Industrial Design story.
Click here to read Serving Up a New Cup - the KeepCup website design story.
Facts at a glance
Problem being addressed:
Create and market a reusable takeaway coffee cup for the espresso market, providing an environmentally appropriate alternative to disposable cups.
Type of designer engaged:
Industrial design - CobaltNiche
Graphic design - Southsouthwest
Most important part of the process:
The appearance and functionality of the product.
Most difficult part of the process:
Making it simple for baristas to easily identify the order associated with a KeepCup in a busy café environment.
End product:
A reusable takeaway coffee cup and a supporting website.
Results and benefits:
- Tens of thousands of KeepCups sold or ordered within the first few weeks of availability.
- A significant reduction in the environmental impact of the daily coffee drinker with potentially hundreds of trees, tons of landfill and gigajoules of energy saved annually.
Related Links
KeepCup - www.keepcup.com.au
Bluebag - www.bluebag.com.au
CobaltNiche - www.cobaltniche.com
Southsouthwest - www.southsouthwest.com.au
23 December 2009