Date: Dec 2018

As part of a joint project between SJ Low and Damson Capital, both companies worked together to help Dignity Kitchen reduce their food waste, provide jobs for their staff, and increase their revenue.

Dignity Kitchen is a social enterprise that employs Person with Disabilities (PWD), they run hawker stores, second hand book stores and provide courses, all while keeping their staff employed and giving them a sense of dignity. One of the areas they were looking at was reusing their coffee grounds which was collected every day and thrown out. But at the same time, providing staff with additional jobs and income.

After research and discussions, mapping out the business model, and finding collaborative partners, we came up with repurposing coffee grounds into scented candles to be sold as gifts at their Dignity Mama second hand book stores, or as corporate gifts. Working on the philosophy of repurposing, we wanted to create a product with the least amount of new material, but with used items. The jars were supplied by various hotels, design done by volunteers, craft and the candles were done by staff at Dignity Kitchen, to create a uniquely designed hand-poured candle.

Today, DK serves various corporate clients and plans to expand their range of used coffee products into other things like soaps, scrubs or coasters.