Taiwan's Singtex develops fabric with coffee grounds

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-12-29

Models display clothing made with Singtex's S.Cafe technology.
(Photo/Hung Hsi-lung)

Taiwanese textile company Singtex Industrial has struck gold by using recycled coffee grounds to create an environmental friendly fabric that offers great functionality, the Global Entrepreneur magazine reported.

Set up in 1989, Singtex started out as a bedding manufacturer, but has been transformed following company chairman Jason Chen's decision to focus on the development of chemical fiber, in order to build a niche amid growing competition from China and Southeast Asia, where labor costs are much lower, the magazine said.

Apart from lingerie maker Victoria's Secret, Singtex's list of clients includes Nike, The North Face and Puma, and over 100 other sports or outdoor wear brands.

Singtex caught global attention after showcasing its S.Cafe fabric — made from coffee grounds and recycled plastic bottles — in late 2008 at a fair in Germany.

The use of coffee grounds was inspired by Chen's wife, who noticed that the coffee waste was being used as a deodorizer in the Starbucks kitchen in 2005. She jokingly said to her husband that people who become smelly and sweaty after exercise might apply coffee grounds to their body as a deodorant.

"In Taiwan, 40 tons of coffee grounds are produced every day. It can be a good business, if the stuff can be used effectively," Chen stated.

It took four years and cost the company US$2 million to finally create the fabric made with coffee grounds that can reduce the smell of perspiration, but S.Cafe generated revenue of NT$100 million (US$3.15 million) for Singtex during its first year in 2009, the magazine said.

Revenue generated by the unique fabric rose to NT$342.5 million (US$10.77 million) in 2013, accounting for a quarter of the overall sales at Singtex, while the company saw gross margin improve from 2010's 20.44% to 2012's 23.52%.

Although it costs 20 to 30% more to produce S.Cafe than traditional fabrics, overall costs for producing a garment have not risen that much because it requires only 35% of the new fabric in a piece of clothing to instill its odor-reducing and insulating abilities, said Chris Chiang, director of overseas business development at Singtex.

Singtex has also made an effort to reduce carbon emissions by stopping the use of chemicals, such as acetone, and replacing coal with the more expensive natural gas in its production.

As a result, the company's S.Cafe fabric has received a Bluesign environmental certification, which represents that each process is in line with environmental sustainability standards.

Singtex has also used coffee grounds to develop the S.Cafe Airnest sponge, which reduces the use of petrochemical products in foam. This product is the main component in orders placed by Victoria's Secret, the magazine said.

To expand the scale of industry surrounding coffee ground fabrics, Singtex established a business alliance in Shanghai called SPIIN in 2013, and plans to join forces with Chinese textile suppliers to further explore opportunities in Western markets, and later establish its own brand in China, Chen said.