From Waste to Taste
Nam is Lisbon´s first urban farm, it started in a small basement in Largo do Intendente. The founder Nathan is a graduate of the Catolica in Lisbon. He builds In Portugal the first circular economy urban farm. What does circular economy urban farm mean? It is easy Nam use only what is locally available to protect our planet and work sustainable. Nam produces mushrooms, but in a different way to conventional producers. They work together with delta, which is one of the biggest coffee companies in Portugal. He uses the old coffee grounds waste to produce the delicious mushrooms.
The circular of Nam looks as follows. It begins with a coffee bean after the bean is ground and we add boiling water the outcome is a delicious coffee. Instead to throw the coffee grounds in the waste a delta driver picks the old coffee grounds, and they use it as nutrient soil for mushroom production. He uses waste like the coffee grounds to generate value. This was the reason why he decided to create a business model inspired by nature. In August 2018 he started to produce out of 500kg coffee 100kg of mushrooms in the heart of Lisbon’s city. He went out to different restaurant and all of them were enthusiastic about the idea. After eight months and many mistakes he corporate with delta and for Nam a new opportunity begun. The build within 8-month Lisbon´s first urban farm. Now they scaled up the business and farm have a capacity to transform 3 tons of coffee grounds per month into 1 ton of mushrooms. Furthermore, the outcome after the mushroom cultivation they generate 1 ton of fertilizer.
It is very inspiring how easy it is to create value out of things that would end in the waste. That Start Up shows what is possible if you change your perspective. He works with many suppliers and restaurants in Lisbon together and reduces the delivery route and therefore CO2 emissions and global warming. He combined many things which are important to create a sustainable world. Nam shows how a design thinking way works perfect. He first understands the problem and then explores how to build a product from the components to make it happend at the end. I personally find the story remarkable because it shows that two products can create out of waste like coffee grounds.
