Coffee grounds given a second life

TURNING COFFEE INTO SOAP: Yinan Liu, Bill Qiu, Jennifer Hong, Teresa Wong, Laura Chan, Phoebe Yao, Cathy Lo and Ben Newbury-Lee (from left).

When a group of Macleans students sipped on their mochachinos in March this year, they wondered where all the excess waste of coffee grounds went.

Half a year later, the Year 13 team is making use of the grounds themselves – recycling them and turning coffee into soap.

The intriguing business concept won the coffee-loving bunch the Counties Manukau oral presentation in the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) a couple of months ago.

The so-called Plus team scored a $60 voucher and all eight students contributed $45 to kick off the business.

Plus team member Bill Qiu says, “When we first started, none of us knew how to make soap. We came into this with a mindset thinking it would be quite simple.”

Money was first spent on prototypes and ingredients, as well as promotional material, says Bill.

His team mate Teresa Wong says, “It’s very labour intensive, as it is handmade. We get all the ingredients from New Zealand, but our virgin coconut oil is from a very generous sponsor that sources it from Samoa.”

Other ingredients include avocado, coconut, grape seeds and sunflower – making for smooth skin and collagen production.

The soaps are wrapped with recycled paper, which shows Plus’ image of being environmentally friendly

“We are also using Fair Trade coffee grounds, so it’s all about being eco-friendly and in keeping in with New Zealand’s clean, green image,” Bill says.

The team now regularly attends fairs around Auckland to sell their soaps – recently, the YES Trade Fair where they won the “Best Trade Fair Stall”, scoring another $30 for their business.

Depending on size, the soap costs $4 or $6 – with 10 cents from each bar going to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal.

The soap team says growing a group business has been an invaluable life experience.
Teresa says, “Young Enterprise Scheme has been a priceless learning experience, and all of us have been tested. We have had difficulties but we rose and came together.”

Bill says, “It’s given us so many opportunities and an appreciation for what a company values to run efficiently such as teamwork and time management.”

Plus’ annual report will come out next month, and will contribute to the total mark towards the YES regional awards.

“Hopefully we win that and we go on to represent Counties Manukau at the national awards held in Wellington and come home with the top prize, which is Company of The Year,” Bill says, hoping all the hard work will pay off.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/plusenterprise or www.plusenterprise.co.nr