The timing could hardly be better to introduce a new reusable system for deposit cups in Munich. After all, the city council only approved a concept in the summer that should lead Munich to the title “Zero Waste City” by 2035. In addition, there is the new reusable law, according to which every catering business in Germany must offer a reusable alternative in addition to disposable packaging from the beginning of 2023.
Appearance “Kooky”: The Swiss start-up has developed a return system for its reusable cups that works around the clock and independently of distribution points. In the app, the cup is recorded via a QR code when purchased and can be thrown in at any Kooky return station. The app refers to sales and collection points in the immediate vicinity and reimburses the deposit amount by bank transfer. The catering partners in turn pay a service fee of ten to fifteen cents per cup to Kooky for cleaning and redistribution. For comparison: the average price for disposable cups is five to nine cents.
The system was launched in Switzerland in spring 2021, and just under a month ago in Munich as the first German city. The perfect general conditions were found here, says managing director and co-founder Torge Barkholtz: “Munich is a very clean city in Germany, and you will find open ears here.” Two out of three founders are also well connected in Munich, Maximilian Zott was born in Munich and Barkholtz himself lived here for five years and worked as a project manager in the catering industry.
There are almost 40 return stations in the city so far – here on Hans-Sachs-Strasse.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
There are currently around 35 points of sale and almost 40 return stations for Kooky cups in Munich, mainly in the Glockenbachviertel and around Gärtnerplatz. Of course, these are still too few for the desired “convenience factor,” says Barkholtz, but the focus will be on expansion in the coming months. Two advantages should help here: on the one hand, Kooky takes care of the transport logistics and the professional rinsing of the cups, at the same time, according to Barkholtz, other providers have been invited to use the Kooky return stations. So Kooky sees itself more as an infrastructure and less as a cup supplier.
Currently no prospect of agreement with competitors
Barkholtz continues, without naming names, to agree on the terms of use with the “three big” reusable systems that have been represented in Munich so far in the next few weeks. When asked by the SZ, the local market leader for reusable cups “Recup” denies that there are any concrete cooperation projects with Kooky in the near future. The providers “Vytal” and “Relevo” confirm that they, Recup and the city have been in talks with Kooky for a long time, but so far no joint solution has been found.
Matthias Potthast, co-founder of Relevo, considers Kooky to be “quite interesting” as an infrastructure and especially its dishwashing logistics, but the Swiss start-up lacks neutrality as a structural supplier after it sells cups itself and thus appears as a competitor. Vytal co-founder Fabian Barthel is similarly skeptical. So far nothing has happened “except that Kooky has set up his return stations and circulated his cups”.
According to Barthel, an agreement also fails because Kooky cups and stations work with chip technology that no other supplier uses. Matthias Potthast therefore thinks it is easier to equip the Kooky stations with QR codes than to retrofit the reusable tableware from all other providers with chips. But Kooky is still very resolute.