MOSS culminated the SUP challenge through an event hosted by Villgro Philippines on September 30, 2022 in Butterboy, Quezon City. The event was graced by key organizations in the local setting, such as The Plastics Credit Exchange, PLAF, Green Antz, and Make Sense to talk about the initiatives on combating single-use plastics in the Philippines.
Danielle Quiwa & Inna Serafin, Co-founders of MOSS
The program kick-off with Suen from The Incubation Network and Nurul Aisyah Suwandi, Research Analyst of The Circulate Initiative.
“The SUP Challenge” is a program that supports startups in India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, which offer solutions to reduce single-use plastics in the food and beverage sector. The SUP Challenge is run by The Incubation Network, an impact-driven organization that sources, supports, and scales holistic innovative solutions to combat plastic pollution.
The Journey
Over a period of six months, MOSS was part of a cohort-based program that offered mentoring sessions and one-on-one support to enhance the company’s overall operations and project delivery. The program allowed MOSS to dig deeper on its financials, consumers, warehousing and inventory, as well as its pitch for potential clients and investors. Co-founders Danielle Quiwa and Inna Serafin were mentored by impactful individuals in the sustainability industry, such as Manuela Moollan from Walk the Talk, Roger Spanz of Making Oceans Plastic Free, Saint Yi Htet of the Global Food Safety Institute, and Lucy Cullen and Hyun Park from Spring Activator.
One-on-one mentorship on consumer insights with Roger Spanz, Co-Founder at Making Oceans Plastic Free
One-on-one mentorship with Manuela Moollan, Impact Strategist and Consultant at Walk the Talk
Learning Lab with Lucy Cullen and Hyun Park from Spring Activator
Learning Lab with Saint Yi Htet, Director of Global Food Safety Institute
With Nicole Bendsen of PREVENT Waste Alliance
F&B Beverage Partners
Over the course of the program, MOSS collaborated with Hatch & Hoolman and Common Folk Philippines to pilot the company’s solutions, all of which are targeted at reducing and diverting SUPs in the F&B industry.
(L-R) Suen, John and Monique from The Incubation Network, Danielle & Inna from MOSS, Andie & Iya from Hatch + Hoolman, and Alyzsa & Ina from Villgro Philippines
An estimate of 3,000 to 15,000 single-use plastics will be reduced every month through these partnerships.
The insights derived from the pilots will contribute to a study understanding the environmental impacts of sustainable alternatives to single-use plastic packaging. The results will be outlining the environmental considerations associated with single-use replacement business models, and the opportunities to reduce negative impacts or recognize carbon savings, relative to virgin plastic production.
Having produced only 39.2 metric tons of carbon emissions in its business operations during its first year, MOSS continues to improve on its sustainability efforts through several initiatives. After the program, MOSS is dedicated to determining its products’ overall carbon footprint, implementing impactful strategies recommended by mentors, and ensuring that current product offerings are refined based on customer insights gathered.
Through the support of both international and local organizations, MOSS continues to thrive in the industry by offering sustainable solutions that are low cost, with low minimum orders. These innovations by MOSS will pave the way for chain cafes and restaurants, hospitality groups, and small-scale businesses to shift to plastic-free alternatives.
The SUP Challenge hosted by Villgro Philippines is implemented by The Incubation Network and funded by the PREVENT Waste Alliance, an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and ECCA Family Foundation. The SUP Challenge is part of PREVENT’s Innovate & PREVENT programme.
