Coronavirus: Cafes return to serving reusable cups

Some cafes banned reusables due to coronavirus fears, but there appears to be no evidence that they're a risk.

Modaks Espresso owner Jack Bradbury, in Dunedin, was one of the cafes serving in reusable cups on Tuesday - but he said people might use them less. 

"It's a pain in the butt, to be honest, but it's for a good cause. One less cup in the trash is always a good thing." 

READ MORE:
* Coronavirus: Cafes ban keep-cups due to virus risk 
* Coronavirus: Full coverage 
* Queue for first feeds at McDonald's
* 5 of the best reusable coffee cups

Bradbury said by about 11am on Monday they'd served up to 150 customers, however, the reusable coffee cups had showed up less often than they usually would. 

"I'd say it's because of the risk, and it is a pain," Bradbury said. 

There was a lot of talk from the Government about what people could and couldn't do, and it may be putting people off bringing their reusable cup, he said. 

Bradbury said he didn't want his company to be "dragged through the coals" for serving in reusable coffee cups. 

The process was completely "zero contact" - the barista doesn't even touch the cup. 

"When they put their cup down, we're probably four metres away.  The barista walks forward, pours the shot in, pours the milk in, and walks away. 

"We do a smile, and they walk away with their coffee."  

Aro Cafe manager Nick Erasmuson, in Wellington, said their cafe had not reintroduced reusable cups - but disliked turning them away. 

However, he said Bradbury's technique of contactless coffee serving at Modaks Espresso was "really clever", and sounded like it would work. 

"Going in to lockdown, we kind of shut [reusable cups] off to try and eliminate the risk," he said. 

"But we're still trying to work out the most efficient way to do things and be as safe as we can be." 

Use Your Own cafe guide founder Laura Cope said hospitality businesses knew how to operate within stringent guidelines.

"Already we are seeing that cafes fully understand what they need to do to keep staff and customers safe, while re-caffeinating New Zealand," she said. 

Hospitality businesses didn't want to create single use waste, she said.

"Who does? We know certainly of nine cafes who have come out on day one with a plan in place for contactless personal reusable cups." 

During Level 4 lockdown, Cope estimated that over two million single use cups were not being used.

"Last year, kiwis used around 80,000 single use cups each day ... that's a significant amount, and something that many cafe owners, and many, many coffee drinkers aren't keen to contribute to." 

Avoidable single use waste was still a huge contributor globally to climate issues, she said. 

"Refusing to promote single use is still one of the simplest acts that the social media community can do to play it's part in keeping New Zealand beautiful, and caffeinated at the same time." 

University of Auckland virology senior lecturer John Taylor said the risk of spreading the coronavirus from a reusable cup was low, if it were cleaned properly. 

"They wouldn't be sharing that cup with anybody else. They've taken it home, and they've taken it to the shop again." 

In the business owners shoes, he'd be hoping the customer had cleaned the cup thoroughly before returning to the store, Taylor said. 

Takeaway Throwaways policy spokeswoman Hannah Blumhardt said the Alert Level 3 guidelines "do not expressly prohibit reusable cups".

"They do make clear that outlets can only do delivery or click and collect and that these must be contactless," she said.