Australian owned & made Zexa Chemicals and café guru team up to bring back the reusable cup.

Sean Edwards is a well-known name in café circles. As founder of the Café Culture brand, he and his entrepreneurial team have long been thought leaders in all things coffee and café. As keen advocates and campaigners for sustainability through the widespread use of reusable cups since the late 90’s, they watched with growing alarm as COVID pandemic restrictions all but forced cafes and customers to stop using them.

Sean became increasingly concerned at the implications of that on sustainability but the difficulty of managing the speedy cleaning and sanitising of the reusable cups was a problem no one seemed able to tackle. Until he got a phone call from Greg Gates, Managing Director of Zexa’s parent company, Sirron Holdings Group.

The solution is a solution…

“I was at a loss as to how to get reusable cups back into cafes”, says Sean. “When Greg called to talk to me about a new alcohol-free sanitiser solution they had developed, I had an instant feeling he was onto something”.

Greg felt an instant alignment between Sean’s concerns and the sustainability values at the heart of the Sirron Group. “When Sean turned the conversation to his concern that we were seeing the death of the reusable cup industry and all that implied for sustainability, we knew we had to help. Moreover, we knew we COULD help”, he said.

The two and their teams then set about collaborating on solving the key issues holding the industry back: speed and ease of application and impact of the product on baristas, equipment and the reusable cups themselves.

“For the busy café sector, especially with the increased pressure on takeaway service, we knew that time was of the essence”, says Greg. “We developed a food-grade ‘dunking’ solution for reusable cups that sanitises in 30 seconds-1 minute. By the time you’ve ordered and paid for your coffee, the cup is ready for the barista to make it!”


In Australia, billions of paper coffee cups, along with their plastic lids, are thrown away every year

There are numerous sources that cite the increasing use of paper coffee cups in Australia and the impact on sustainability of both ‘regular’ and even recyclable paper cups. Most agree the best solution is the reusable cup.

We believe that Café Culture and The Sirron Group have formed a formidable alliance in this venture and are set to continue to provide solutions to positively change the way cafes operate in the future.

“The Sirron Group is a small business with a big heart,” says Greg. “The opportunity to create a product that directly helps the cafes of Australia and their customers towards a more sustainable future makes us proud”.

“This is such a simple solution to the problem”, says Sean. “Greg and the Sirron development team at Zexa Chemicals have made it even easier for the reusable cup scene than it was prior to the pandemic”.

A simple solution with a simple name, “Café Dunk” will soon be available via distributors across Australia.

Listen to Greg’s interview with Mike Rorke on 2NURFM here:

Listen to Sean’s interview on ABC radio here: