Munich You don’t have to come from the food industry to establish a new product in the breakfast market. Philipp Reif and Tim Horn were IT specialists at Deutsche Bank and Telekom when they decided to be the first to sell ready-made “smoothie bowls” over the Internet with their company Oatsome.
“We develop the recipes like new software,” says Horn. The mixtures of porridge, freeze-dried fruits, nuts, chia seeds and other ingredients would be brought onto the market very early in a version 1.0. Then you analyze which toppings the customers prefer and which type of cinnamon is best received. There is a lot of testing, changes are made quickly – and if something does not work, it is discontinued. As in other industries, the product cycles can be greatly shortened through tests.
So far the recipe has worked. According to industry estimates, Oatsome’s sales have grown to tens of millions at high growth rates. A further doubling is planned for 2022. The company has been profitable since it was founded four years ago – and now wants to expand into foreign markets outside of German-speaking countries.
The story of Oatsome is somewhat reminiscent of Mymuesli. “That was one of the first big start-ups in the food sector,” says Reif. “Of course we took a close look at that.”
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Mymuesli started an online trade for customizable organic muesli about 15 years ago, which later also made its way into supermarkets and its own stationary shops. With the expansion, Mymuesli got lost in the meantime. The company slipped into the red and had to close branches.
Data acquisition from your own online shop
At Oatsome, the founders have so far avoided the mistake of going too far. “Our focus will always be online,” says Reif. Because data, for example about the taste preferences of customers, can best be obtained in your own online shop. Following the example of Amazon, similar products can be recommended individually, for example. “When selling in stores, the dealers have the data,” says Horn.
A certain presence in stationary retail also helps, for example, to increase brand awareness. And so the Oatsome products are available in the dm drugstores, for example. “We want to expand that further,” says Reif. But you will be careful not to overstretch yourself.
They came up with the idea for Oatsome while looking for a healthy breakfast that can be prepared quickly. “In addition to work and sport, you don’t have a lot of time, but you still want to eat well,” says Reif, who is a recreational triathlete. On Instagram they saw homemade smoothie bowls in many pictures, but there was no ready-made supplier yet. So they developed the first recipes in the shared kitchen. The bowls only have to be mixed with water.
For when you’re out and about, Oatsome also offers “Bliss Balls” – small balls made from a date. The aim is to “make conscious nutrition as easy and tasty as possible”.
The market for muesli, corn flakes and oat flakes in Germany is a billion euros. But Oatsome also competes against a number of suppliers of liquid food that are supposed to provide the most important nutrients.
Brands such as Soylent from the USA and Huel from Great Britain, which rely on vegetable proteins, were pioneers. In Germany, YFood became known through the program “Höhle der Löwen” with a liquid ready-made food that uses milk as a raw material.
75 vitamins, minerals and other ingredients
There are also manufacturers who primarily target athletes. Athletic Greens is promoting a powder that contains 75 vitamins, minerals and other ingredients and should be mixed with water once a day.
But it is precisely these liquid foods that are primarily bought by men. Oatsome, on the other hand, found a niche in the market for women with its smoothie bowls.
With its smoothie bowls, Oatsome found a niche in the market for women.
With its marketing strategy, Oatsome is less comparable to Mymuesli, but more to start-ups like Everdrop, which sells cleaning products without packaging primarily via the Internet. Everdrop also uses social media marketing on Instagram, for example, to target a hip, well-paid clientele who want to eat healthily and do good – but also value aesthetics.
Oatsome bowls have names like “Zimterella”, “Alice in Beerenland” and “Tom and Cherry”. A pack of 400 grams should be enough for around eight servings and costs just under 15 euros in the online shop. Homemade muesli is usually much cheaper. The liquid drinks, on the other hand, are often even more expensive.
Oatsome has two business angels on board as investors. With Food Angels Germany, Wolf Michael Nietzer has invested in a number of companies in the industry. Oatsome has a strong brand in the segment of wholesome, healthy and tasty breakfasts and afternoon snacks. The management has a deep understanding of “data evaluation, performance marketing and social media”. There is expansion potential both in terms of internationalization and in the area of stationary retail.
For customers today it is important that the organic content is as high as possible. “It’s the most difficult thing with the fruits,” says Reif. The aim is to convert the entire product range. Individual ingredients and products are already certified organic.
Oatsome is no longer on the market alone. Other startups have launched similar mixes. “But that tends to confirm that we are on the right track,” says Reif. And you feel a little honored at Oatsome: The former role model Mymuesli has now followed suit and has also added smoothie bowls to the range.
More: This start-up wants to open up the market for decaffeinated coffee in Germany