AIDA Cruises announced a partnership with the Hamburg-based start-up Coffeecycle to recycle coffee grounds and reuse them as vegan natural cosmetics.

The collaboration of the two brands aims to reduce food waste onboard AIDA ships and support a sustainable circular economy by using coffee grounds as a valuable ingredient in the production of vegan soap.

“We were absolutely convinced by Coffeecycle’s idea,” said Johannes Nagel, corporate hotel manager at AIDA Cruises. “This partnership underlines our commitment to sustainable practices and our ongoing efforts to reduce the environmental footprint of the cruise industry. Efficiently recycling coffee grounds is an important step in sustainably reducing food waste while developing innovative products.”

Coffeecycle founders Liam Metzen and Leonardt Mücke used the certified Fairtrade coffee grounds from the AIDAprima to make sustainable and skin-friendly soap. In addition, the soap contains nourishing ingredients such as coconut and olive oil and is free of microplastic. In the future, the companies plan on using coffee grounds from other AIDA ships calling at Hamburg to make the soap.

“We are very excited about this cooperation with AIDA. Since we founded Coffeecycle as baristas, our primary goal has been to recycle the maximum amount of coffee grounds. This collaboration with AIDA allows us to do just that and is perfectly aligned with our mission! We are curious to see what quantities of coffee grounds we can now reuse and thus save from disposal”, said Coffeecycle founders Liam Metzen and Leonardt Mücke.

The Coffee Soap is available on all AIDA ships, except the AIDAaura, in three different scents (the classic AIDA Sea Scent, Peach and Orange). Guests can purchase the soap at a retail price of €9.90.