Public Toilets Are Broken. Here's How Mister Loo Is Fixing Them | Andreas Wanner (#119)

What if public toilets were clean, modern, and actually enjoyable to use? In this episode of the ZuLoo Poodcast, Andreas Wanner, CEO and co-founder of Mister Loo, shares how his company is revolutionizing public toilets, public sanitation, and clean public bathrooms across Southeast Asia. Discover how smart public toilets, innovative sanitation technology, and customer-focused design are transforming hygiene, public infrastructure, and the future of sanitation.

After leaving a successful career in investment banking, Andreas set out to solve one of the world's most overlooked challenges: access to clean, safe public restrooms. Today, Mister Loo operates more than 100 premium public toilet facilities across Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, serving over 1.5 million users every month while reshaping the future of sanitation through technology, sustainability, smart infrastructure, and exceptional customer experience.

Whether you're interested in public sanitation, smart cities, clean public bathrooms, social entrepreneurship, ESG investing, sustainable infrastructure, or innovative business models, this conversation explores how one simple idea is improving public health, dignity, hygiene, and quality of life for millions around the world.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

✅ Why Andreas Wanner left investment banking to build one of Asia's leading public sanitation companies

✅ How Mister Loo creates clean, premium public restrooms using an innovative pay-per-use business model

✅ Why sanitation, hygiene, and customer experience are becoming essential parts of smart city development

✅ How technology, sustainability, and social impact are shaping the future of public toilets around the world

Visit ZuLoo Humanitarian

Learn how ZuLoo is advancing sanitation, clean water, and hygiene solutions around the world.

https://zuloo.org

Timestamps

00:00 Why Public Toilets Matter More Than You Think

01:01 Meet Andreas Wanner, CEO of Mister Loo

06:37 The Problem That Inspired Mister Loo

11:37 How the Mister Loo Business Model Works

16:48 Building Beautiful Public Bathrooms That People Want to Use

20:10 Funding Smart Public Sanitation Infrastructure

27:21 Expanding Across Southeast Asia and Beyond

30:34 The Future of Smart Toilets, Wellness, and AI Health Technology

33:24 Creating Jobs While Improving Public Hygiene

36:35 The Impact of Clean Public Restrooms on Communities

Key Takeaways

🔹 Premium public sanitation can be both financially sustainable and socially impactful.

🔹 Clean public restrooms improve health, safety, dignity, tourism, and overall quality of life.

🔹 Standardized operations, technology, and customer experience are the keys to scaling sanitation solutions.

🔹 Entrepreneurship can solve global sanitation challenges while creating meaningful careers and stronger communities.

About Andreas Wanner

Andreas Wanner is the co-founder and CEO of Mister Loo, one of Southeast Asia's leading premium public sanitation companies. Originally from Switzerland, Andreas began his career in investment banking before relocating to Asia and launching MisterLoo to address the growing need for clean, accessible public restrooms.

Under his leadership, Mister Loo has expanded across Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines, providing modern public sanitation facilities that combine innovative design, technology, sustainability, and exceptional customer service.

MisterLoo https://www.MisterLoo.com

World Toilet Organization https://worldtoilet.org

Resources

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public toilets, public sanitation, clean public bathrooms, smart toilets, sanitation innovation, toilet innovation, public restroom design, MisterLoo, Andreas Wanner, Southeast Asia sanitation, hygiene, clean water, sanitation business, ESG investing, sustainable development goals, SDGs, smart cities, social entrepreneurship, sanitation technology, sanitation startup, tourism infrastructure, bathroom innovation, public infrastructure, customer experience, sanitation solutions, World Toilet Summit, ZuLoo Podcast, sanitation awareness, public health, sustainable sanitation

#PublicToilets #Sanitation #SmartCities #Hygiene #CleanWater #PublicHealth #Sustainability #SocialEntrepreneurship #ESG #Innovation #MisterLoo #ZuLoo #Toilets #SanitationInnovation #GlobalHealth

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Well, it it does kind of seem like the sky's the limit with all of these different add-on services and more locations. And it does seem like, you know, I know every geographical location has their own unique challenges to sanitation, but this seems like a very for a place that is set up for it, it seems like a no-brainer. Like this is really, really smart and it and it's fun. I I truly like the pink bathroom. I thought, oh, I would love to take my girls in there.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Welcome to the Zulu Podcast, where we talk all things poop, toilets, and sanitation. Through insightful news, impact stories, and quirky humor, we aim to discuss and highlight the critical role toilets play in pushing poop out of our lives, the impact toilets have, or lack thereof, on the health and wellness of humanity, and what Zulu is doing to help solve the current global sanitation crisis.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

This episode of the Zulu Foodcast is sponsored by Zulu Humanitarian, a nonprofit organization committed to delivering sustainable sanitation, clean water, and hygiene solutions to underserved communities around the globe. Head to Zulu.org to learn more. Hey everybody, welcome back to another amazing episode of the Zulu Podcast. Darren, it's wonderful to see you as always.

SPEAKER_01 1:26

Great to see you.

SPEAKER_03 1:27

I love her these lemons.

SPEAKER_01 1:28

I know. I think I'm gonna eat one in a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

I just got a lemon tree. My husband got me a lemon tree for Mother's Day. And I didn't even know that you could grow lemons. Are they about the size? Well, not yet. They're green still. They're very small. They look like walnuts. But you know, this is what we're rooting for. Lemon gold.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

These are not real, I don't think.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

But uh I mean you could try one.

unknown 1:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:46

Find out the hard way.

SPEAKER_01 1:47

Yeah, plastic. I don't do it, but anyway. Yeah, good to see you. Uh yeah. So uh how's your summer going?

SPEAKER_03 1:55

Um I feel like summer just started a couple days ago, even though officially I know it started a few weeks ago. I just got back from Ireland, which was feeling very like unsummery, but it was so amazing. We had the best time. Nice. Um, but yeah, we came back to super sunny, wonderful temperatures up in the mountains, and it feels like a dream.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Yeah, it can get breezy there.

SPEAKER_03 2:18

Um in Ireland. Yeah. Oh my gosh. It was we stayed on a sheep farm.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 2:23

In like the southwest coast of Ireland.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

Oh, yeah. Wind.

SPEAKER_03 2:26

I don't know that I've ever felt wind like that. There's something about an Irish wind. We woke up to the sound of sheep every morning. It was sowesome. It was great.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 2:35

But you just got back from somewhere too. Uh Scotland, across the ball we should have met up for lunch.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

I know. It was uh probably a little cold area up at the Isle of Sky and that area. But uh yeah, super freezing, freezing cold.

SPEAKER_03 2:47

So why'd you guys pick Scotland? Do you have you have family?

SPEAKER_01 2:50

So my son's going to school there.

unknown 2:52

Oh.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

And so we flew over with them to uh get um help them get settled and stuff, and then we just did some tight skin and stuff. You know, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

All right. Well it was a I didn't know you were I just tried uh I know we should have thrown rocks together.

SPEAKER_01 3:04

Yeah, should have thrown a rock or something. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:07

All right. Well, not in Scotland or Ireland, but rather in Thailand.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Another land.

SPEAKER_03 3:12

Another land is where we were speaking to Andreas Vonner with Mr. Lou, Mr. Lou Toilets. Really, really fun to talk to him. Um I just hopped on their website again. They have the most beautiful public toilets.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Yeah, it's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 3:27

The designs are so good.

SPEAKER_01 3:29

Yeah, yeah. I met Andreas in uh at the World Toilet Summit in our in uh India last year. And uh really impressive guy, really sharp. And uh he just I think his background, well, we'll get into the interview here, but uh background in finance from Switzerland, I think he is, and then he wound up in Thailand. It's kind of a crazy story, but uh he's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 3:50

Yeah, it was it was a really good interview, great product. So let's jump in. Okay, Andreas Bonner joining us from Bangkok, Thailand. Good morning for him, good evening for me. Darren, I don't know about you. What time is it in Puerto Rico?

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Uh I just know the sun went down, so you know it's done.

SPEAKER_03 4:09

That's all that matters. So it's it's good evening for you too. All right.

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 4:12

Well, Andreas. Thank you so much for joining us. We're excited to get to know a little bit more about you, and we definitely want to dive into the mission and vision and operations of Mr. Liu. But let's start with you. Tell us a little bit about a little bit about your background, um, what you were doing before Mr. Liu, and what led you to starting this this company.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Perfect. Thank you so much also, Jocelyn and uh uh Darren, thanks a lot for having me on the podcast. I still like the name, uh obviously. I I I I uh I learned about it when I met Darren in in New Delhi at the World Uh Toilet Summit. That's really awesome to have a podcast. Uh that's awesome. Yeah, I mean, my name is, as you said, Andreas. Um, I'm uh one of the co-founders and the CEO of Mr. Loo. Um, we started our venture 10 years ago uh in Southeast Asia, really with the vision and mission, and we come into that to really revolutionize public sanitation. Uh, there is a big need for that. Uh I have, as you said, I have, or as you indicated, I have a completely different background. I I I worked in finance, I worked in in investment banking uh in Switzerland. I'm originally from Switzerland, but also worked in China. Uh but I I I I had more, but I looked, I worked with corporates, let's put it this way. And I looked more into, I was always a person who liked entrepreneurship, who liked to corporate to really solve a problem. Uh obviously, this is a complete different industry, uh, but I'm really a number-driven person. And uh when I was when I was living in China, for me was it opened a lot of eyes in a in a way that half of the world population lives in Asia. Of the eight plus billion people, we have four billion in Asia, and half of these four billion is a middle class. And when you travel through Asia or Southeast Asia where we are now, you really also see the need for the business we're talking today. And that once point in time, I said, let's try something by by ourselves, let's, let's, let's inaugurate the venture. And that's how we started then roughly 10 years ago with Mr. Loo. But it was a bold step. I mean, jumping out of a you know uh kind of the business career into a new venture. Uh, but I I don't miss it. It's really a great opportunity and a great uh you know journey which we have taken on with Mr. Liu so far.

SPEAKER_03 6:36

Well, I definitely want to get into exactly what Mr. Liu does, but I'm curious. I mean, that is a big jump from finance and banking into sanitation. Um, was there a specific moment or a specific need you saw that you thought, I can do this differently, I can do this better?

SPEAKER_00 6:53

Yeah, yeah, it was really this. I had this moment exactly. I was once uh traveling for a couple of weeks in Southeast Asia, and obviously you eat in all the local food, the street foods, you try everything. I was always a curious person, trying new things, and then it is a different style of food and different, you know, herbs and spices and everything. And uh don't want to go in detail, but suddenly you need, or the sooner or the later, you need a toilet, and you are somewhere at the beach, or you are at the fresh market, a night market, and then you see what is the prevailing infrastructure, and then you say, Wow, that's many people must have the same problem. And then that's where I say, Hey, why is nobody solving this? And the public sanitation concept which we apply, we come into that later. That's at least in Europe, it's a common business concept. Uh, and and I knew that it's a service operation, and I thought, yeah, again, coming back to the numbers, that's a big thing, and why is nobody solving this? And then obviously, you you also challenge yourself. You said, uh, if it's so an obvious problem, why is nobody jumping into that? But uh toilet sanitation is not a very sexy business. So many people may not jump immediately into that if they have another opportunity. But I had this moment uh where I really was to be very specific. I was in Kozamui in Thailand on a uh at the beach party, and I needed to, I needed, I needed urgently a toilet. And I said, I pay whatever it takes, I just want a clean, nice toilet now. Uh, and that's where I said, let's let's really look into that now.

SPEAKER_01 8:29

Yeah. So yeah, I was gonna ask you what led you to Thailand because you're originally from Zurich, right? Uh Switzerland. Yeah. And uh what what led you to Thailand? Were you just there on vacation, or what was the what was the draw to Southeast Asia?

SPEAKER_00 8:45

Yeah, that's a is a good point. It's not it's really not around the corner. That's true. Um when we started Mr. Lu, I was already living in China. I worked for at that point in time for the German-Deutsche Bank uh in in Shanghai. So I was quite often in Southeast Asia. But when we that this business which we're doing, we're today in four countries, four Southeast Asian countries. And we didn't necessarily say it should only be Thailand, but we started here. We did simply like a scorecard. We analyzed the 10. When we started, we analyzed the 10 biggest Asian economies in terms of GDP per capita, in terms of uh how easy to do business, how easy as a foreigner to apply for working permits, like the typical criteria as you checked. And obviously, India, I mean, there in we have been there, right? I mean, there's a huge need there for toilets, but it's much harder as a startup to get traction and to, you know, to get business permits, to inject capital, to repatriate capital. So to cut the long story short, Thailand was an extremely well-advanced economy in Southeast Asia, also infrastructure-wise, but still with a need for sanitation. Had a huge GDP per capita tourism, and that's why we started in one of the, I call it easier country, and that's how we ended up here. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:00

Hey friends, it's Jocelyn with Zulu. I want to share something that's really stuck with me after doing this podcast for the past few years. I feel like I've lived these stories. Listening to what so many women and families go through every single day. As a mom with two young daughters, it hits me on a completely different level. Imagine having to wake up before dawn and risk assault just to find a private place to go to the bathroom. For 673 million people, that's not hypothetical. That's daily life. And for so many girls, the lack of a safe, clean toilet means they drop out of school once they reach puberty. Just trying to manage something as basic as hygiene ends up costing them their education and their future. That's why Zulu Humanitarian is doing this work. Building safe, sustainable toilets and clean water solutions for families who need them most. It's not just about sanitation, it's about dignity, safety, and giving girls a real chance. And here's the part that gets me. You can change that for a family. Just $350. That's less than a dollar a day. You can fund a toilet for up to seven people. If this speaks to you at all, please go to Zulu, spelled Z-U-L-O-O.org slash give. That's Z-U-L-O-O.org slash give. It really does make a difference. So for someone who's never heard of Mr. Lou, tell us exactly what you guys do.

SPEAKER_00 11:37

Yeah. First of all, we try to tackle really the sanitation crisis in Southeast Asia. So Southeast Asia is the playing field where we are. And when we describe our business, I would describe it in a simple way as a one-stop shop in sanitation, in public sanitation. This means we design and build the toilet. So we inject the capital. So we really give the money to build it with our own people. So we design it according to the Mr. Loo standard. We build it then. And once it is built, we also operate it with our own cleaning stuff. So we have people on the ground who service. And in order to kind of amortize our investment and to pay our operation, we have a service concept, meaning a pay per use. It's an affordable small fee, which people pay in order to get into the toilet, and then they get like soap, tissue, sanitizer, air con. So it's really the full set. It's not only just a toilet, it's really a nice toilet. And we make this very affordable. We always said we don't want to only capture, you know, the peak of the iceberg. We really want to be for the broad middle class population. So we're not necessarily only for the poorest here, but we really cover the huge middle class section in sanitation. But at the end, to give you a very simple example, how this translates, I'll make an example. We go to a bus terminal, and the bus terminal has probably 10 toilets, a huge bus terminal. And we say, hey, you should give your end customer one Mr. Lou alternative. So we would like to take over, or we would rent some space and we build it from scratch and we operate. So people who are in the bus terminal, they can either use their prevailing free-of-charge infrastructure, which is usually at the lower standard, but some people may still say that's okay. And this is also okay. And some people also say I take the Mr. Loo because I pay the five or ten Tybap. So this is between 15 to 25 US dollar cents in order to get them the full service. And that's the concept we're applying.

SPEAKER_03 13:43

Okay, that's interesting. I didn't. Oh, sorry, go ahead, Darren.

SPEAKER_01 13:46

I was just gonna ask you, can you uh really adapt it? I mean, because they're really beautiful, uh, well, I mean, just fit uh aesthetically beautiful places. I mean, do you do you try to adapt? I mean, do you have to custom build them or do you have some kind of um minimum, I guess, minimum footprint that you require, and then it's kind of standardized, or do you kind of design it at each individual place as you go?

SPEAKER_00 14:11

Yeah. I mean, there are two questions in it, but it's it's it's important, yeah. First of all, we have just a standard like kind of modular built, like always the same, materials the same. That's also helps us time to market just to deploy quickly. But when you're, for example, in a in a bus terminal, you need to take what is available in space. I mean, like Starbucks does when they go in a shopping mall here and there, we apply it for our toilet. So it's pretty standardized, also that the materials across the countries where today in Thailand, when Indonesia, Philippines, and Vietnam. Um, but it's pretty standardized with the same look and feel. But what it is indeed, what you say is we need a certain minimum footfall uh that it that it makes sense economically. Uh and this is around minimum for four to five hundred people per day, uh, what we need in footfall in order to finance the operation, but also over time to repay our investment. And we are not we are not for we always say somebody always needs to pay for it. I mean, either the government pays for it or private. We just our concept is that we shoulder the whole cost and then really uh finance it or refinance it over time. But also in terms of traffic, I think this is one of the maybe just to add on in in Asia, we have a huge urbanization rate. I mean, there are three problems. Maybe I maybe quickly allow me quickly, the three problems. First of all, the density of public available toilet is comparably low in Southeast Asia. I also have statistics. We compare it with with Australia, with Europe, but also with with America, so low density. Second, the ones which are available are poorly managed in many cases. We really see that. And third, this is the urbanization rate. We have seen in Asia, I mean, you have these mega cities. If you take Jakarta and the outer ring of Jakarta called Jabodetabek, 35 million people. And you know, when we talk of a toilet, we have toilet facilities at large bus terminals with three to four thousand people per day on a facility. So the traffic is usually not the issue, uh, but you need it, you need to build it robust, you need to standardize what you said, and and and and you need to operate. And that's what I always say. The construction, that's one part. I would say everybody can do that, but it's permanently servicing at high level according to SOPs, controlling, checking, and that's that's I think what it it stands or it falls, in particular with with sanitation. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:48

So I was going over your website last night, and just to hit on the design one more time. The designs are beautiful. You have a couple different options. There's like a standard and then a premium. Um, the premium, the colors were vivid and vibrant. Like you've clearly thought about the customer experience and not just the need of having to relieve themselves. They're beautiful places. Um, so I it was really fun to you know go through those photos and see how intentional you guys were about the design. Um but I I guess what I misunderstood was um, so these are permanent structures in public spaces, but people still have the option to there. Is are you always doing it near a free toilet? So people always have the option for one or the other.

SPEAKER_00 17:37

Exactly. I mean, first of all, thanks uh Jocelyn for about the design. Um it's great to hear uh that you like it. Yes, and that's they are permanent, permanent in a way. We also build prefab modelar, but it's like we install them permanently. We have certain facilities which we really kind of assemble to an 80% completion grade in the factory, but then we still install it and we want to be permanent. We don't want to be for events because with events you always have, and there is a huge business, but you need to take care about the wastewater, the fresh water, the transportation. So we are permanent there, and that's why we have six years, nine years lease contracts. What we try really is, and it it is not necessary always side by side, the free of charge and the Mr. Loo. It always depends again, high density. When you go into Chinatown in Bangkok, you find rarely one square meter free space. So you need to take what is available. But what we what is really our approach, we don't want to uh discriminate anybody in a way. We don't want to get complaints that people say, I need to pay. We want what you said, we want that people say I'm worth it because it's a toilet experience, it gives me more, it gives me a sense of two, three minutes recreation, good air, background music, uh sanitizer, tissue, soap, really, and and this was also accelerated by COVID. I would say a lot of people kind of increase their awareness for personal hygiene. And it's anyway a huge trend. I mean, when we think it it is a little bit far, what I now say, but when we think of longevity, we want to look better, we want to be healthy, we want to eat better. And this goes hand in hand also how the people use the toilet. This takes a little bit more education in some parts of the world, but the trend is clearly there. That option and that experience we want to provide to the to the people.

SPEAKER_03 19:33

We're we're asking a lot of questions about the operational side, but I think that's important because in each of, you know, we've talked to a lot of people all all over the world who are innovating in the sanitation space. And, you know, they see a vision where people have access and dignity to, you know, take care of this very it's a daily necessity for all of us. Um, so I just want to ask a couple more questions about the operations. Who is paying for it initially? I know the user ends up paying for it, it's a pay-per-use system, but who's paying for you know the construction and putting it in the bus terminal?

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Yeah, that's my solo. That's we pay that. It's a capital intensive business. I mean, we are backed by by by uh by investment firms uh from Europe and uh and and and uh Asia, excuse me, Hong Kong. Uh and and yeah, it's capital intensive. So we and that's often capital constraint, that's all always a bottleneck, and that's what we also solve. The toilet is always when you have a project, usually we see this so often they build a huge project, and the toilet comes at the very end, and then they save money there, and that's where we really want to come in and say, look, we're not selling you anything, we just want to help you. Uh, and this is an important aspect. So we not only finance the capital expenditure and operations, we have different agreements. Either we pay rent and we pay rent comparable to any FB shop, or in some cases we also have revenue share agreements where we say if you give us a good spot at the entrance, you get a you you we expect a higher footfall, and this translates in higher revenues, and this should be shared. It should not be pure money making, and this is important. We really we still have or we have the belief that we are complementary to the businesses and to the solutions which are in the market. Uh, and and we want to really provide still, and this is important, we come into also SDGs and impact. This is extremely important for us. There is always a cost, and and and we shoulder that at the end. But to answer your question, excuse me, we invest the money initially. We take the risk to invest into an infrastructure to get it repaid over time.

SPEAKER_03 21:48

Yeah. No, I I I love hearing the details of that because I think when people it it feels like a very overwhelming problem. But there, if you're there's a lot of creative solutions to tackle this. So I think it's great to hear from people in all these different places their approach and how they're making it work. I okay. Darren, did you have a question? I felt like I have a lot.

SPEAKER_01 22:12

So I was going to ask, I mean I noticed like you know, you're you're in Vietnam, you're in Thailand, these different areas. I mean it seemed like the model is just uh I mean there's you could be really re be replicating the same model uh really anywhere. I mean I could see one of these Mr. Lou's in um in Puerto Rico.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

I mean you know I mean it's uh you know but yeah I mean it's it seems like a uh just a a huge um a huge opportunity because even even well I mean even places in America I mean Jocelyn you talk about it all the time where you know you're kind of afraid to you know take your girls in there and uh you know whether it's a truck stop or whatever but if uh I mean just the yeah just the um I mean I haven't used one yet I look forward to but you know as far as just the aesthetics and the cleanliness and the brightness and the uh appeal it's more yeah you guys have focused on that user experience that you know is um I guess uniform as far as I can tell across all of the units right you know you know what you're gonna get right correct yeah that's I mean that's a very important thing that was always and that's what I like in the big in particular I mean the big American chains but also others you can be in a Starbucks everywhere in the world and you know what you get the same look and feel the same products the same approach the same processes and I think this is a little bit how you build really a powerful brand and we are obviously still a tiny uh tiny little fish in the in in in the big pond but I think to answer a question yeah it's very replicable it's it's very process oriented and I also do believe many people I just have friends here from Europe they ask me hey is this also something we could do in Europe kind of because in Europe it exists only at the big train station but we also service tourist area we have traditional fresh markets and we have community centers so we have a lot of different areas where we we even have some malls and uh so there is a lot of opportunity but I do believe you can replicate this obviously you need to a check the regulation I for example the America I know they have some regulation on public sanitation you cannot just I think build everywhere and and secondly what is important and this is really nice in Southeast Asia we not have problems with violence or that things get also destroyed in nighttime so we have a lot of 24 hour operation and in general it is not I would say it is not in the culture to destroy things at large scale I cannot I'm not judging on any of the country I'm just saying this is really the beauty for example in particular also in Thailand uh with with with with the with the Buddhist culture there uh I really can say and that really helps us then we talk again about costs and operation this just helps how people behave and how people treat and and respect your business and that's really a beautiful thing yeah hey friends it's Jocelyn with Zulu I want to share something that's really stuck with me after doing this podcast for the past few years.

SPEAKER_03 25:23

I feel like I've lived these stories listening to what so many women and families go through every single day. As a mom with two young daughters it hits me on a completely different level. Imagine having to wake up before dawn and risk assault just to find a private place to go to the bathroom. For 673 million people that's not hypothetical that's daily life. And for so many girls the lack of a safe clean toilet means they drop out of school once they reach puberty just trying to manage something as basic as hygiene ends up costing them their education and their future that's why Zulu Humanitarian is doing this work. Building safe sustainable toilets and clean water solutions for families who need them most it's not just about sanitation it's about dignity safety and giving girls a real chance and here's the part that gets me you can change that for a family just $350 that's less than a dollar a day you can fund a toilet for up to seven people.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

If this speaks to you at all please go to Zulu spelled Z-U L O Or slash give that's Z-U-L-O-O.org slash give it really does make a difference yeah very peaceful culture by by most standards uh for sure and um yeah so you would um I guess yeah those are things you would look at when you're looking at going into a particular market right correct as far as like uh obviously building regulations and things like that um what yeah what what are your what are your do you have future plans are you focus you know gonna stay in Southeast Asia I mean you mentioned Europe I mean what what is your I mean five ten year goal or if you have one no that's you know yeah that's very important uh first of all we want to grow the business our home base is there are two questions our home base is Southeast Asia or Asia yeah and I always say we're now in four markets and we can build here a couple of more hundreds before we go then to another continent uh yeah we always said we have here and there also requests on for example a franchising partnerships we're looking now into a live request somewhere and and this we're open minded if a partner says okay that's something interesting I really want to know I really want to I really want to shoulder this kind of a franchise and I think it it it is it is really interesting and we are open for that for for us is maybe the next five years is we want to A, we want to really become we want to build another up to 500 location that's our target in the next five years. And so this where are you at right now?

SPEAKER_03 28:15

How many units do you have now?

SPEAKER_00 28:17

A little bit more than 100 um we have at the moment around 1.5 1.6 million users on a on a monthly but on a monthly basis around roughly almost 20 million a year like 18 million a year uh but so from 100 locations we want to grow to 500 locations that's number one in the gross component number one is also not only what we have seen now we started to offer a lot of incremental uh services like shower luggage lock lock boxes where you can store your luggage we even have at large field traditional markets we even started with applying laundry business and it's not just to add on something else but when you know these large fresh food markets the people there they are preparing the meat the vegetables farmers they're dirty from here to to to from from from from from the head to to to to the feet so they they require some also laundry business so really we want to add on into the Missalu ecosystem more services add on services where people just improve quality of life and convenience that's the simple thing. So growth that's the number one second and we didn't talk yet we also want to constantly develop our technology today we we build our proprietary software so I can tell you at every point in time real time what is my location in Vietnam in let's say in Zygon or in Jakarta or in Manila in Zebuduing. We have all data points on when the people enter how they pay when the cleaning staff enters the shift we build this proprietary software by ourselves because this only makes it unscalable the toilet is a hardware is a functional room and you need to make it you need to digitalize so number two is digitalization three is on the SDGs that's also one of our strategic components we for sure talk later about it is a topic as such and and number four and this is really big um and tomorrow actually is a big day we will implement some services which go beyond the pure toilet. So it goes into well-being it goes into we work with partners where for example we will install a urinal and a b day like a toilet where you can pee and it tells your hydration status. It's not technology invented by Mr. Lu. We also work now with a company an Asian company they do face scanning and tell you simple vitals like an Apple Watch like how stressed are you and it's not it's not a hospital degree we never want to become a hospital but it's again experience convenience and health where you have the people you you have the people in your toilet you just need to make more out of it.

SPEAKER_03 30:56

So and these are the four components growth technology SDG and and I call it wellness and we want to boost that the next five years and I don't know whether I'm in 10 years still here I mean our goal long term is is is is potentially to sell this company uh once to somebody bigger who can read it and scale it in in in large but this is a step by step approach of course yeah yeah awesome well it it does kind of seem like the sky's the limit with all of these different add-on services and more locations and it does seem like you know I know every geographical location has their own unique challenges to sanitation but this seems like a very for a place that is set up for it it seems like a no-brainer like this is really really smart and it and it's fun I I truly like the pink bathroom I thought oh I would love to take my girls in there um I it's interesting in the States I think the idea of paying to use the restroom is a very foreign concept with that's just not something that we're familiar with. But if you travel outside of the states you'll see it is pretty expected it's pretty normal um but a lot of times you pay for it and the experience still isn't that great and you're kind of wondering what you're paying for.

SPEAKER_00 32:18

And all of you I'm very happy that that you I'm very happy that you mentioned this I didn't want from my but it's exactly the point. You in also in Southeast Asia you pay often maybe 20 30% less but you get no service that's exactly where we said for a little add-on we do it 10 times better. It sounds a little bit selfish but that's really the point. I think you we you should only charge and that's where people not complain because if they it's still affordable I mean we compare we always make a living basket what do the people pay for water what do they pay for a coffee and we really make this because if we would just charge something and people would not use it then our investment which is initially granted then would be lost. So I have from the start we invest into one toilet I have the highest motivation incentive to make it affordable and to make it that people love it because only then they will use it and and and that's a little bit the approach but I agree many people or many of facilities already charge excuse me and but the service is not where it should be and all of your units sir all of your units are attended right that they they have on-site staff that are staying on top of it which I think is really critical you know that's that's the key point uh I said earlier clean and and taken care of right so correct that's what I said earlier building everybody can do but he's really that the main the maintenance uh maintenance uh there is a clear SOP so a standard operating procedure and it's not a retail there is this quote retail is detail we are not a retail business but to a certain extent we have the same hospitality or servicing concept behind and we have we have more than uh 230 for example cleaning stuff uh and and they also that's part of our uh ESG or then also the SDGs we're tackling of our ESG framework with impact investors so we also report we need to achieve targets and KPIs we report that on a quarterly basis and and this is but this is also very I would say rewarding uh we have cleaning stuff they have been staying with us since inception around 10 years ago or maybe since nine years ago they made up because we educate them or we we hire them on our they are hired they have a work contract they have social contribution and these are people at the bottom of the pyramid right we are not talking of people who did universities or whatever we talk of people they worked for almost no money somewhere in a market or so I mean in a fresh market or on a fish market or somewhere. And then they get into Mr. Lou and they get social contribution they get health coverage they get a proper contract and we also have a we call it career letter we call it Mr Lou Academy so you can become from a cleaner a senior cleaner you can become a supervisor regional manager but we really believe if you train and incentivize these people correctly you have their loyalty for all time that's really what we see and and that's that's the rewarding thing where we were when we started we were a bit scared or not scared but we respected the challenge that this might not be easy but that's really a great uh I think a great thing that that we at the same providing nice toilets we also can really employ the people who who make the whole thing happen because these are the frontline people who really keep it clean. But you still need to control you need to have mechanisms you need to do quality checks mystery shoppings uh there is still a lot obviously uh to permanently check that yeah you have mystery users who go in and then report on their experience yes we do we that's that would be a really fun job yeah you you need that you need that obviously our our operations manager they have predefined schedules so the people know uh yeah I I ask everybody always also from my network be critical when you go around in a missile we have for a very good example we have in Chinatown and when my wife goes there for grocery uh uh somewhere someone she just goes in and she always reports me I mean anyway that's what I also expect not only tell us the good things yeah really also what we can improve yeah well Andreas I I can't believe 30 minutes has already gone by that went very very quickly um but I want to ask you a final question before we sign off so you've been doing this for about 10 years now did I hear that right? 10 years and what um you know you aren't just providing toilets you are providing dignity clean sanitation a quality customer experience what are some of the the uh the rewarding things you've heard from your customers from your employees that make you think okay we're gonna keep going we're heading in the right direction yeah I mean first of all obviously from the customer we often hear really we get a lot of positive feedback just saying hey somebody what you said one of the most basic daily human needs somebody's taking care of that yeah and that's really what we hear often what what what people just say either they send us messages or on Google with Google Maps or whatsoever. And also when we are for example in fresh markets where we really I don't know whether you have experience in this large three times football field fresh markets these people stay the whole day there and when they get a clean toilet with all the services it just again improves the quality of life and that's what we really see. And from the employees I really what is very rewarding we have also here I have people there with me like since eight years and we have a very broad I mean we have people just off university and we have people a little bit like the mid of 50s and and this mix makes it very vital makes it very lively makes it also a good combination of youngsters who want to really kind of go into this kind of post startup we are very dynamic still the company how how we how we how we operate and how we are but also everybody what we all share is really that we do we all are convinced deeply convinced what we do is the right thing. So we really contribute something to the community. And again in Asia the community thinking is huge not only in Thailand the not only for you but for the community is huge. And I think that's the vital thing where people that's the rewarding where people say we do something we create something hopefully some legacy something big uh which which will be lasting and and with that also we can often uh capture a lot of good talents uh because they really not only go into big firms only that also happens of course but also we get a lot of talents who really want to contribute to our to our venture yeah so overall after as you said this uh was a big move but uh as I said in the very beginning I I I I I don't miss it what I did before I think I learned a lot culture wise entrepreneurship wise uh doing it by yourself versus just reading and seeing is a complete different uh thing so uh it has been a great journey and we hope now we can really uh accelerate even more uh the next couple of years well and it's fun too right I mean it's more fun than anything else you can think of than banking yeah I mean I I to be honest I I love I love banking uh I love the job I love the interaction I like I love numbers I love the the economy but it's just different the entrepreneurship component was missing I would say many big firms uh managers uh and uh they kind of say yeah you should to be entrepreneurial but at the same time obviously in a big tanker you need to have very strict processes so the level of entrepreneurship is extremely limited whereas when you build something by yourself but from scratch you're really free that means also you're accountable for what you what you do well and what you don't do well and that's I think the interesting journey that every day brings some new ex uh surprises and exciting and and and and less exciting moments yeah yeah you you get all of it the good the bad the ugly the scary the wonderful the why am I doing this I'm so happy I'm doing this absolutely it's like it's like a roller coaster very true yeah true true well we applaud you and your efforts and what you're doing in Southeast Asia we would love to follow up in a couple years and see where you're at see how many units what locations hopefully I'll join you guys in India next year please for World Toilet Day or wherever they happen to have it yeah um maybe we'll be in Thailand maybe uh yeah that would be Bangkok on the list is that the short list I don't know I would love to go we know we know uh we need to talk with check sim he's the man who organizes this team uh and then we see where the next event takes place yeah yeah I'm gonna text him right now uh hey do it do it I vote for Thailand awesome thank you so much Andre have a wonderful day a pleasure and thank you so much for having me in your uh podcast really was a pleasure talking to you thank you so much thank you so much bye all right fantastic great interview great guy really really cool company I highly recommend you check out their products on the website yeah he's really doing a uh a great thing to uh systematize and every time you go to uh Mr.

SPEAKER_03 41:54

Liu uh you're gonna get the same experience and the and just uh you know kind of like uh you know any other brand you know just get the you know what you're gonna get you know it's awesome he's doing that and not just in Thailand but those other countries too so well hopefully at this year's World Toilet Summit which happens to be in Bangkok we'll be able to check out Mr.

SPEAKER_02 42:13

Lu in person for the new one I'm I'm a paying customer all right well thank you so much for joining us we'll see you next time this episode of the Zulu Podcast has been sponsored by Zulu Humanitarian advancing dignity health and opportunity through sanitation learn more at Zulu.org Thank you for listening to the Zulu Podcast follow us on social media and visit Zulu.org to learn more about how Zulu is helping tackle the global sanitation crisis through toilet, clean water and hygiene solutions. If you enjoyed the podcast please subscribe like comment and share and if you'd like to support our mission visit our website to learn how you can help change lives through better sanitation