The Country
  • The Country home
  • Latest news
  • Audio & podcasts
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life
  • Listen on iHeart radio

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • Coast & Country News
  • Opinion
  • Dairy farming
  • Sheep & beef farming
  • Horticulture
  • Animal health
  • Rural business
  • Rural technology
  • Rural life

Media

  • Podcasts
  • Video

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whāngarei
  • Dargaville
  • Auckland
  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Hamilton
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Te Kuiti
  • Taumurunui
  • Taupō
  • Gisborne
  • New Plymouth
  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Whanganui
  • Palmerston North
  • Levin
  • Paraparaumu
  • Masterton
  • Wellington
  • Motueka
  • Nelson
  • Blenheim
  • Westport
  • Reefton
  • Kaikōura
  • Greymouth
  • Hokitika
  • Christchurch
  • Ashburton
  • Timaru
  • Wānaka
  • Oamaru
  • Queenstown
  • Dunedin
  • Gore
  • Invercargill

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / The Country

Young entrepreneurs tap into coffee culture with milk keg concept

By Sally Rae
Otago Daily Times·
11 Aug, 2019 11:30 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Young Dunedin entrepreneurs Jo Mohan and Luka Licul are launching their new milk dispensing system. Photo / Peter McIntosh

Young Dunedin entrepreneurs Jo Mohan and Luka Licul are launching their new milk dispensing system. Photo / Peter McIntosh

Two young Dunedin entrepreneurs are tapping into the nation's coffee culture.

Jo Mohan and Luka Licul have co-founded Spout Alternatives, with Nick Jackson, of Christchurch, to put milk into kegs and reduce the number of plastic milk containers used in cafes.

The trio are preparing to launch their permanent dispensing system, which is similar to the way beer is available on tap in bars.

Spout Alternatives was formed earlier this year after the trio attended youth business accelerator Venture Up, a programme run by Creative HQ, in Wellington.

Mohan (22), who has a commerce degree, is now a marketing intern at Tuapeka Gold Print. Licul (18) is in his first-year studying law and commerce at the University of Otago, and Jackson (23) is a chemical engineer.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They partnered with Dunedin cafe The Corner Store to pilot the initiative and are now ready to launch to the public.

They have been using Holy Cow milk from Port Chalmers dairy farmer Merrall MacNeille, poured into 10-litre stainless steel kegs.

The kegs are delivered to the cafe and hooked up to a dispensing system already installed.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

One keg eliminated five two-litre plastic containers.

The trio are very mission-oriented; when doing their initial market research, they discovered Wellington cafes were using 6000 two-litre containers of milk a day.

That amount of plastic waste is driving the trio to increase the number of cafes taking part in their initiative.

Caitlin Rosalie pours milk from a Spout milk keg at The Corner Store cafe. Photo / Craig Baxter
Caitlin Rosalie pours milk from a Spout milk keg at The Corner Store cafe. Photo / Craig Baxter

Long-term, they hoped to expand nationwide and "make plastic milk bottles a thing of the past in cafes'', Licul said.

Discover more

Dunedin Jersey milkers Holy Cow going from strength to strength

03 Oct 10:15 PM

From vodka brewing to high country farming

08 Jul 12:45 AM

'Legend' Otago farming family set the bar high

23 Jul 11:30 PM

Jet boats and glamping diversify Hurunui farm

08 Aug 11:30 PM

Mohan said they were conscious that, as the business grew, MacNeille's herd of Jersey cows would not necessarily be able to keep up with that demand.

So they were looking at getting other suppliers, even potentially Fonterra, although they did not have the facilities at present to hold a tankerful of milk.

Every small effort counted when it came to reducing the world's plastic problem, Mohan said, and she also liked being able to support local businesses.

MacNeille, who has had a long relationship supplying The Corner Store, was supportive of the initiative.

Currently milking 26 cows, his farm was heading into a quiet period before production ramped up later in the year.

"If it takes over the whole country, I'll be in trouble,'' he said, laughing.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from The Country

The Country

Chris Hipkins ponders a grand coalition on The Country

The Country
|Updated

Celebrations start Saturday for Poverty Bay A&P Association's 150th year

The Country

'Lunacy': Farmers fight cuts to Taranaki agriculture courses


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from The Country

Chris Hipkins ponders a grand coalition on The Country
The Country

Chris Hipkins ponders a grand coalition on The Country

Bruce Weir, Amber Brador, Chris Hipkins, Abbi Ayre, Peter Newbold, and Chris Russell.

17 Jul 01:45 AM
Celebrations start Saturday for Poverty Bay A&P Association's 150th year
The Country
|Updated

Celebrations start Saturday for Poverty Bay A&P Association's 150th year

16 Jul 11:26 PM
'Lunacy': Farmers fight cuts to Taranaki agriculture courses
The Country

'Lunacy': Farmers fight cuts to Taranaki agriculture courses

16 Jul 10:23 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP