“Ohne,” Bavaria’s first packaging-free supermarket on Munich’s Schellingstraße, has been open for six months. Crowdfunding 48,000 euros were raised. The media response to the opening in February was huge. Time for an initial review and an interview.
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Christine Traub answered questions from “Wirtschaft Aktuell”, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce newsletter. The business graduate Hannah Sartin and Carlo Krauss Founded "Ohne." There is a clear division of responsibilities among the trio of managing directors. Christine Traub takes care of accounting and financing.
What are you eating? Looks delicious...
Banana cake – homemade. Hannah baked it. It's our new hit.
What is the most popular product in this store?
You wouldn't believe it: oatmeal. Many people come to look around first because they can't really imagine what shopping here is like. Oatmeal is very popular with them. But we don't just have groceries. We have stainless steel straws, which sell really well. Toothpaste tablets, the alternative to toothpaste, are a real hit. People are happy that they no longer have to throw away tubes. It's a whole new experience for our customers.
How does a toothpaste tablet work?
So, you have a tablet, put it in your mouth, chew it a little and that's the toothpaste.
Who buys from you?
We say to ourselves – who wouldn't shop here? We have a very broad target audience: Students from the neighborhood. Young families, where the children help out with the shopping and have a great experience. Older people also come and say: “I can finally shop the way I used to.“
Does “Ohne” now run without crowdfunding?
Yes, so far. We still have new customers every day who tell us they've been wanting to stop by for a long time. But we also have quite a few regular customers.
Did the banks not want to know about your business idea? Or why did you choose crowdfunding?
We had no problems with the banks. We didn't use crowdfunding out of desperation. Ultimately, it was three in one for us: market research, financing, and marketing. We had a certain amount of pre-financing through the vouchers we issued through them. We also used crowdfunding to test the mood toward the idea.
So you would do everything the same way again?
(laughs) Yes, exactly.
Have you already thought about expansion – for example, opening a store in the Glockenbach district?
Yes. Not a day goes by without one or two customers asking when the next store opens. We're actually thinking about it. Our customers come from all over. They'd be happy if they didn't have to travel so far, of course. But finding a property in Munich isn't exactly easy. Many of our customers already give us tips on vacant spaces.
Do all three of you now work exclusively for the store?
Hannah joined the store full-time straight from her parental leave. Carlo still works 50 percent as an engineer, and until five weeks ago I also worked 50 percent at Pro7/Sat1, but now I'm here in the store full-time.
Who does what?
Our founding team is divided so that Hannah handles press relations, sales and commerce, and the conceptual side, and spends a lot of time in the store. I'm responsible for accounting and financing, and Carlo, a trained engineer, is the creative side and handles the technical side.
You offer your products "without" packaging. But how difficult is it to actually get the goods delivered unpackaged?
Good question. You have to talk a lot with the suppliers, explain things, and give them options for supplying us. We've already established reusable systems with some suppliers. This means they have our containers on site, which they fill and bring to us. This creates no waste at all. We receive the dry products in paper containers. A minimal portion is received in larger plastic containers due to their shelf life. We're talking about around 5 percent that is still delivered in plastic. We're working daily to convert this last bit as well.
Is Munich a particularly good place for such approaches? There are already the Hofpfisterei, the Herrmannsdorfer Landwerkstätten, etc.
I think so from the customer perspective, because we have an interested audience here. But of course, Munich is also an expensive place. In Berlin, we would have much lower overhead. Generally, we've received a lot of positive feedback. We've also had several school classes here in recent months—from second to tenth grade—who are exploring the topic of plastic and are really absorbing the information here. It's nice to see the younger generation already learning about it here.
Do you have contact with the great role model Bea Johnson, who initiated the packaging-free trend in 2012 with her book “Zero Waste Home”?
Yes, we actually did. Hannah also helped her find a German publisher for her book.
Do you also exchange information with other packaging-free supermarkets in Germany?
Yes. I've met Milena from Berlin from "Original Unpackaged" several times.
What is your next project?
We're planning a delivery service, and we want our customers to be able to drop off their shopping lists with us in the morning and have their items delivered by bike in the evening. We're never bored; we have so many more ideas.
The interview was conducted by Christina Schneider.
For those interested in crowdfunding, the next IHK Crowdfunding Night will take place on September 26 at Bits and Pretzels. This year's focus is crowdinvesting. It will take place in WERK1. Information about the program and registration is available here. here.
