The PLUS team (front left) Bill Qiu, Phoebe Yao, Teresa Wong and Ben Newbury-Lee. (Back left) Jennifer Hong, Cathy Lo, Yinana Liu and Laura Chan.

By Cynthia Daly

A group of budding business operators have come up with a rather unique product they hope will win them a Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Award.

But far more importantly, they hope someone will notice their product and take it to new highs of production, marketing and consumer use.

The eight members of the group are all Year 13 students at Macleans College in Howick, Auckland, and while they are all studying different topics, something as simple as enjoying a coffee together stimulated their interest in the waste created by espresso coffee-making. The result is quite possibly the first coffee-ground-infused bar of soap, branded as PLUS.

The story though goes even deeper into the pores of environmental issues.

The group: Laura Chan, marketing director; Phoebe Yao, marketing director; Bill Qiu, communications; Jennifer Hong, production director; Yinan Liu, managing director; Cathy Lo, finance director; Teresa Wong, production director and Ben Newbury-Lee, sales director all wanted to develop a product that would leave no trace on the environment but could also give hope to Third World countries by drawing attention to Fairtrade and how it supports the growers of coffee.

For now the bars of soap are being handmade by the group, wrapped in recycled paper decorated by them using natural water colours, and sold through their website www.plusenterprise.co.nr and at several local markets.

Bill Qiu takes up the story: “Some of us were drinking coffee and we thought about where does all the waste go and that’s when we came up with reusing the coffee grounds for soap. We did have other ideas related to coffee grounds but soap was the strongest. Also the grounds are Fairtrade and we wanted to use Fairtrade coffee grounds because we support the Fairtrade concept, and as well we wanted a product that didn’t harm the environment.”

Creating soap that fits that criteria and uses coffee grounds meant considerable research but in the process it helped the group understand the deeper benefits of coffee grounds.

Cathy Lo says: “You drink coffee but many people don’t know about the good properties the grounds have and we wanted to bring out this fact in the new product we are bringing to the market that people haven’t seen before. Coffee grounds are an exfoliant; and they can reduce cellulite and improve blood flow to the skin. We didn’t know these facts and thought this is a really cool part that we haven’t actually seen before.”

After a few trials making soap, and with a few words of advice from another soap maker, the group had developed their product – a natural soap using vegetable and fruit oils rather than animal fat with a neutral PH level and a PLUS factor - Fairtrade coffee grounds exfoliate enhancement.

The product-testing meant everyone in the group using the product and discovering very pleasing results before it was launched onto the market.

Feedback from people who have bought the product has been one of the most rewarding parts of the project says the group. “One person even said they liked it because it was a unique product, they used it on their face and they liked it,” says Teresa Wong.

And as if they haven’t considered all the benefits this product could have, the directors of PLUS have ear-marked 10 cents from the sale of each bar of soap to go to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal for Christchurch.

All round a rather a refreshing concept wouldn’t you say?

Good on your group,wot a gr8 idea. The grounds are wonderful, I collect them from the coffee shops for my compost bins, Worms lov them, just like us. Regards Sue.