Since shipping the first box in summer 2015, a lot has happened at etepetete: The team has grown, the startup has become part of the Munich wholesale market, and has now saved more than 1.5 million kilograms of fruit and vegetables.
It runs at etepetete: The initial team of three founders has grown to 50 employees. Initially, a garage served as the packing hall. A temporary solution followed, and since fall 2017, packing has been taking place among the major players at the Munich wholesale market. To date, more than 1.5 million kilograms of fruit and vegetables have been shipped to a customer base that now numbers five figures. Co-founder Carsten Wille says about the Munich startup’s recipe for success:
"We approached the whole thing a bit clumsily back then, but I think that's why we're so successful. We went to the source, to the farmer in the field, to see where the problem arises: Why is so much delicious fruit and vegetables thrown away? This helped us immensely in understanding the food industry. And we realized that there's still much room for improvement here to ensure sensible use of resources, people, and nature."
That's why the startup is still far from reaching its goal of shipping fruit and vegetable boxes. Rather, it aims to create a perfect food cycle. The path to achieving this: Field cultivation will be planned in collaboration with farmers.
“A delicious carrot is not perfect just because it is as straight as a ruler.”
"Crooked vegetables will always be our core, but we need to expand our concept. Because we want to do more and transform the entire supply chain, from purchasing to the customer, in the interests of less waste and less pollution. We are already planning fields together with our farmers and want to further optimize this process through the use of sustainable technology and IT,"
explains co-founder Georg Lindermair.
"We've seen firsthand what goes wrong in the traditional supply chain – the established system shows little consideration for nature and resources. This starts with cultivation and ends with delivery. Crooked vegetables are the least of our problems,"
adds Co-Founder Christopher Hallhuber.
Consequently, Wille, Hallhuber, and Lindermair plan to expand their organic box products and develop new logistics solutions for their straight and crooked organic vegetables.A delicious carrot is not perfect just because it is as straight as a ruler.” With this attitude, the founders want to further develop organic food and explore new avenues.
