Fancy a coffee on the go? Anyone who grabs a coffee to go at a café or bakery is immediately served a bitter truth: 2.8 billion single-use cups end up in the trash. Every single year. In Germany alone. And on top of that, there are about 1.3 billion single-use cup lids.
Recup is the name of the startup that, not even seven years ago, set out to end this madness. What is even crazier is that Recup actually managed to rise from total obscurity to market leader in a short amount of time. Today, you can get the deposit cups with the Recup logo at 22,000 locations in Germany, including Shell gas stations, IKEA furniture stores, and Burger King branches. The trend: rising rapidly. Founded by two former students in Rosenheim, Recup actually has what it takes to rid us of a significant amount of waste.
How did the brand manage to do that? How does a sustainable startup go from total obscurity and a small marketing budget to market leadership? Johanna Perret was employee number 1 at Recup and was therefore involved in all relevant developments of the brand. We speak with her about how Recup achieved this masterpiece, what other startups can learn from it, and where the further path toward a reusable brand leads.