The Swiss food and beverage operator is has partnered with kooky to deliver a digital cup return scheme across 200 of its cafés and kiosks by 2024
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Valora operates around 2,700 café and kiosk outlets across Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, including the Caffè Spettacolo chain | Photo credit: Valora
Swiss foodservice operator Valora has expanded a reusable coffee cup scheme across its Caffè Spettacolo, Brezelkönig, SuperGuud and k kiosk outlets.
Using the kooky platform, customers will be able to pay a deposit for a reusable cup along with a hot beverage. Cups can then be returned at designated collection points near stores, with the deposit credited electronically upon return via bank transfer or donated to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
Kooky then collects and empties drop-off boxes daily before transporting the cups and lids to a dishwashing logistics company where they are cleaned, packaged and returned to stores in sealed boxes.
Customers can currently purchase a kooky cup from 19 Brezelkönig, Caffè Spettacolo an d SuperGuud sales outlets. Outlets of three food service brands will be offering the digital cup smart system at 30 SBB stations and 20 other locations by 2023.
By the end of 2024, around 150 k kiosk, Press & Books and avec outlets will also be participating in the initiative.
Italian-inspired Caffè Spettacolo is the fourth largest branded coffee chain in Switzerland, currently operating 30 cafés. Valora also operates 56 Brezelkönig pretzel stores in the country alongside three SuperGuud sandwich shops at Zurich and Basel rail stations.
Operators around the world have stepped up efforts to reduce single-use cup waste following a widespread pause during the pandemic due to hygiene concerns and a reliance on takeaway trade.
Seattle-based Starbucks has pledged to wind down disposable cup use across its 35,000 stores around the world, with 17,000 stores across the US and Canada offering reusable cups by the end of 2023.
The world’s largest coffee chain has also introducing its reusable Cup-Share programme across more than 3,800 stores across 43 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa by 2025.
In September 2021, Europe’s largest coffee chain, Costa Coffee, trialled a reusable cup scheme at stores in the UK.
In Canada, foodservice chain A&W has trialled a fully compostable coffee cup designed by designed by UK-based ButterflyCup at some of its 1,000+ stores.
Valora operates around 2,700 café and kiosk outlets across Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, generating group sales of CHF 2.2bn ($2.2bn) in 2021.
In July 2022 Mexican retail conglomerate FEMSA, which operates over 20,000 outlets of the OXXO convenience store chain across Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru, announced the proposed acquisition of Valora in a deal that could be valued at up to $1.2bn.