Starbucks’ latte levy success
STARBUCKS has seen a 150 per cent rise in customers using their own reusable cups after bringing in a 5p charge on throwaway ones.
The coffee chain ran a ‘latte levy’ trial at 35 London stores, in which shoppers with their own cups not only escaped the 5p charge but were also given a 25p discount on their drink.
Before the trial, which began in February, 2.2 per cent of customers brought their own cups. This has risen to 5.9 per cent in the trial shops – hitting 8.4 per cent in the mornings.
The figures suggest that, even at these levels, the number of cups handed out in the high
street every year could be cut by around 150 million if all coffee shops adopted the policy.
The issue with standard throwaway coffee cups is that they have a plastic coating which means they cannot be recycled with other paper waste.
Starbucks now plans a trial replacing plastic straws with green alternatives. Jason Dunlop, of Starbucks, said: ‘We are encouraged by the initial results of our trial that show that, by charging 5p and increasing communication on this issue, we can help to reduce paper cup use. Now those same customers can also help us to test innovative plastic straw alternatives.’