Icy Study Gets Students Trip to Switzerland and A More Sustainable Way of Business
Attention to detail is something that the F&B industry at large is great, especially when it comes to service. But here’s something that you may see as fairly innocuous: the amount of ice put into a serving of drinks matters not just as a matter of service for your customers, but also a way to help with eco-sustainability.
As reported by the Mothership Earth, three Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students have won themselves a study trip to Switzerland with their solution for sustainability that led to a significant reduction in water and electricity consumption. This was a part of the ITE-SME Climate Change Mitigation Project, launched in early 2020, and which took place over nine months. Students from three ITE colleges were attached to 15 SMEs to find ways for these businesses to be more sustainable in their operations.
ITE College East students Mr Budi Kurniawan Bin Ismail, Ms Nurul Ernisah Lydiawati, and Ms Chong Huey Huey, Amber were part of the team involved with working with an iTEA Café outlet in their school compound. They found that customers at the drinks stall often disposed of leftover ice in their cold beverages, leading to ice wastage.
From there, the team created an experiment incorporating 30 participants, who were blindfolded and taste-tested chilled drinks with different amounts of ice in them.
"Most participants found that just filling the cup with 50 per cent of ice is just right for them," said Ms Chong. "We changed the ladle to a smaller one, so one full scoop of ice is already 50 per cent of the cup."
"For our project, we don't need the SME to fork out money or make any major changes in their operations. By just changing the amount of ice used, it's impactful enough, without creating anything new," Ms Nurul explains. "Basically, something small can have a great impact.”
This is a momentous study, as the amount of ice served, when reduced by 50% as per their recommendations, can led to a 14 per cent reduction in electricity consumption, and reduced water consumption by 21 per cent, as seen from their project.
According to the students, the owner of iTea Café were delighted that their solution helped them save money without any upfront capital cost, or any decrease in customer satisfaction. It also helps that it supports the fact that sustainability or support eco-friendly initiatives does not mean an increase in costs for businesses.
For coming up with an innovative and impactful solution, the trio earned a fully-sponsored study trip to Switzerland to understudy the Swiss Sustainability Programme in 2022.
