Enterprising St Mary's Diocesan School students launch coffee cup business

Kaitlyn Maaka, Nicolette Bailey, Mirei Kondo, Gracie Thomas and Enya Perry are the brains behind the business, cup&go.

They're trying to save the environment, one cup of coffee at a time.

Five students at St Mary's Diocesan School for Girls have launched a reusable cup business under the young Enterprise Scheme.

CEO of Cup & Go, Mirei Kondo (19) says the group wanted to come up with a business which would have a positive impact on the environment.

"Every day people buy hot drinks on their way to work or school which is served in a single use cup that ends up in the landfill. We wanted to change that."

The cups are double walled, meaning they will keep drinks warm and hands safe.

Mirei says they are targeting a broad range of people with their product, a resusable travel cup for hot drinks.

"People aged from 12 to over 65 buy hot drinks as a takeaway item, so we are hoping to encourage people to choose to purchase our cups and use those instead."

Gracie Thomas, who is the financial director for the group, was also responsible for the design of the cups.

She says they chose bright colours as their market research told them those colours appealed to the most people.

"Eventually we will also have them in red and white, however our supplier couldn't get those colours for us at the start, so they will be introduced to the range later on."

The product name, Cup & Go, is on the mugs in lower case, in a simple font. This, says Gracie, is to help create a clean look to the product.

"We wanted it to look simple but stylish. We didn't want lots of clutter on the design, but rather a clearly recognisable branding."

A simplistic sketch of a tree also features on the cups, reminding people that the cups are helping protect the environment as well as keeping your drink hot, says Gracie.

The cups aren't just helping the environment by stopping coffee cups going to the landfill, Mirei says some of the profits from the business will be donated to Puranga Kiwi Taranaki, a local charitable organisation which works to protect the environment.

As well as selling the cups at school and via email, the students also hope to see their product stocked in cafes around the country.

"We are already talking to a cafe in Wellington which may be able to sell them, as well as one in New Plymouth. We would, of course, love to hear from any Stratford cafes or coffee businesses who would be willing to stock them as well," says Mirei.

Another idea for the future she says is to develop some kind of lending library for the cups, where they can be available for people to borrow and return in place of using a single use coffee cup.

"We believe the cups are a great idea and hope people will support our business, and our environment, by buying them. They are well designed and the double wall insulation design means they will keep drinks hot, without burning your hands."

Cup & Go cups are available at $15 each, or two for $25 or 4 for $50. To purchase, or to find out more, contact the students via email: cupandgonz@gmail.com