Skip to Content Skip to Navigation

A revolution in coffee consumption

In 2007, Abigail Forsyth approached Cobalt to develop a then prescient idea; a reusable version of the ubiquitous single-use ‘paper’ coffee cup. The result was KeepCup, an idea that Cobalt helped develop into a successful family of products that have changed people’s behaviours and attitudes on using disposable cups.

Through observational research of coffee drinkers and baristas, Cobalt worked through the opportunities and challenges of a product that didn’t need to be thrown away after a single use. Once the user experience was understood, Cobalt designed and engineered the components to be locally manufactured as well as efficient to transport globally.

Since launch of the first range in 2009, KeepCup has gone on to produce over 5 million cups, sold in over 30 countries. Over that time, KeepCup has grown from a Melbourne based start-up, to now having manufacturing, assembly and distribution sites in several continents. KeepCup has spawned an industry of competitors yet remains the iconic benchmark which has practically become the generic term for a reusable takeout cup. Working together throughout this period, Cobalt and KeepCup have always focussed on keeping the product true to the café culture so intrinsic to Melbourne and similar cities the world over.

KeepCup and their family of products have won multiple awards including the US Good Design Prize (Chicago) and being named one of Australia’s Top 20 Inventions (Fairfax Media 2014).

keepcup cobalt work product 1060x1060 2212

Design Outcomes

Design that is original

Sustainability

User Friendly

Modularity

User Experience

Customisation

The Team We believe good design happens by expert people working as a team.

Steve Martinuzzo

steve martinuzzo cobalt about avatar 2110

Lorrin Windahl

Lorrin Windahl

Brett Capron

brett capron cobalt about thumbnail 2110

Rob Cuzner

rob cuzner cobalt about thumbnail 2110

Marcus Krigsman

marcus krigsman cobalt about thumbnail 2110

Ricardo Figari

placeholder avater cobalt about avatar 124x124 2205

Daniel Booker

daniel booker cobalt about thumbnail 2110

Andrew Beard

andrew beard cobalt about thumbnail 2110

Carla Zampaglione

carla cobalt about avatar 124x124 2212
keepcup cobalt work team 3360x2270 2212

Keeping it deceptively simple, yet deliberately focussed

Now, years after KeepCup first launched, the idea of taking your own reusable cup to a café has become the norm. But it wasn’t the case when we first started working on the idea. Bulky, stainless steel, thermos style cups existed, but these were as foreign to café culture as driving a Hummer to a Greens convention. That fact that KeepCup is so widely used now is a testament to the integrated business and design approach taken since the very first brainstorming sketch.

Cobalt’s involvement with KeepCup has grown over this journey. Over the years we have provided a full range of product development services, from strategy, user insights and industrial design exploration, to engineering resolution, prototypes and functional testing, following into manufacturing, supplier sourcing, tool management and production metrology.

To deliver on KeepCup’s sustainability aims, the cup’s design had to deliver a user experience better than a single-use paper cup, yet not be any less intuitive to use. To do this it had to be so coffee-friendly and personal that people would prefer using it beyond the 15-uses needed to become environmentally superior to disposable cups.

Merging experience with user insights

Early user research gave us core insights that drove the design DNA that continues to influence our approach for KeepCup development. One of these was the importance for users to feel the cup was theirs and want to reuse it. This spawned the idea of creating colour customisable elements which allow users to ‘design’ their own unique cup; and acting as extension of their own self-expression. Users’ emotional quotient with their cup and the brand’s greater purpose is a key to breaking the cycle of disposable cup use and creating new reuse behaviours. As well, the customisation element has also been critical in helping baristas and cup owners match their cup with their lid when in busy cafés.

Another insight was some people’s preference to drink from the rim and not through the sipping hole. So rather than mechanical details or a thread to fasten the lid, KeepCups have a simple lip-friendly rim, just like a regular china espresso or tea cup.

Projects like KeepCup don’t come along often. So, when they do, our designers and engineers revel in the chance to design a product that enables real change to occur. Through KeepCup, and its competitors that followed, millions fewer single-use coffee cups are disposed of annually, which is a commendable outcome.

Other Work