Bean Around is an Irish business that produces sustainable skincare products made from 100% repurposed coffee grounds.
Developed by sisters Sadhbh and Aisling Wood, the business originated from personal experience, with their father seeking comfort for his psoriasis during the pandemic.
Traditional treatments like steroid creams were not providing relief, so he turned to online forums for advice, and discovered that coffee grounds boasted exfoliant properties, relieving itching without damaging the skin.
“He started using coffee grounds in the shower,” Sadhbh Wood, CEO, recalls. “It was a really good, robust exfoliation, but it was still gentle.”
In turn, the sisters began using the coffee grounds to remove fake tan, leading them to realise coffee grounds’ broader exfoliation potential. Bean Around was born.
Building the business
To date, large skincare manufacturers haven’t embraced coffee as an exfoliating ingredient due to its organic composition, Wood explains.
“When we started our research and development process, we discovered that coffee, as an organic material, moulds quite quickly,” she says. “So, capturing the coffee grounds and having a system in place to develop it into a new product quickly is probably the biggest issue.
“Companies that do use coffee grounds tend to use pre-used coffee – ground coffee that hasn’t been through a filter system – because it’s easier to work with.”
To maintain quality, Bean Around collects fresh grounds daily or freezes them, partnering with local coffee shops to repurpose used grounds.
“During the period coming out of the COVID pandemic, we used to go to local coffee shops and ask them if the would be interested in doing something with their used coffee grounds, or whether they were already doing something with them” says Wood. “There was a really big enthusiasm from the coffee shops we spoke to for this kind of concept.”
Circular economy proposition
This led to the develop of Bean Around’s circular economy business model, which also boasts an added-value benefit for coffee shops, which can see their used coffee transformed into skincare products.
“We came up with the idea of collecting from a coffee shop and then repurposing it directly, so that everybody who buys a coffee there has a connection to that product,” she adds. “It’s a very circular experience for their customers.”
Bean Around has expanded its reach from local coffee shops to corporate clients like Google, KPMG, and EY, which have on-site coffee facilities. These companies are working with Bean Around to both reduce waste and enhance their corporate sustainability efforts.
“It’s a great way of getting their employees and clients to see what can be done to tackle waste in their operations,” says Wood.
Growth expectations
In terms of scaling the business, the need for an airtight production process – different to that of traditional cosmetics manufacturing – presents a challenge, with Bean Around processing fresh coffee grounds in small batches and by hand to maintain quality and sustainability.
“We want to be able to repurpose as many coffee grounds as possible, and in order to do that, we need to have more capacity,” says Wood. “We’re a bit different from the traditional cosmetics model.”
The company is commencing a seed investment round to grow its manufacturing facilities in Ireland, while its growth plan also involves creating a franchise model to expand internationally.
“The great thing about Bean Around is that it’s localised, and that’s what people like about it,” says Wood. “People can connect with the product, and it builds a community around the circular economy message.
“The great thing about coffee is that everybody drinks it, and it’s available around the world. So, what we’re doing with Bean Around is an easy concept for different communities to get their head around.
As Wood admits, for startups aiming to implement circular economy practices, achieving full circularity can be challenging. She encourages businesses to start small, adjust expectations, and grow their circular initiatives step by step.
“At this stage, it’s very much evolving,” she says. “Not everything can be fully circular at the moment, but you need to start somewhere, to build that incremental growth. Once you re-evaluate your expectations, it’s easier to move forward with circular initiatives.”
This interview took place at the Business Post Spring ESG Summit 2025. More information on Bean Around can be found at www.beanaround.ie.
