Munich Startup: What does Be Tanics do? What problem do you solve?
Be Tanics: Hi, we're Katharina, Peter & Dominik – together we founded Be Tanics in May 2021. Be Tanics offers natural nutritional supplements that are good not only for you but also for the planet. Our products are completely climate-neutral and the plastic-free packaging can be easily disposed of with waste paper – thus, we no longer contribute to the pollution of our environment. But that's not enough for us! For every product sold, we also remove one kilogram of plastic from the ocean in collaboration with our partner Plastic Free Planet. We are therefore the sustainable alternative for consuming natural dietary supplements.
The dietary supplement market lacks a consistent and holistic approach to sustainability, environmental protection, transparency, and effective, natural ingredients in a comprehensive concept. With Be Tanics, we combine both: We promote the health of our customers and our planet!
To close this gap, we're setting a good example and want to inspire other companies to actively support our environment. Because, in the long run, our health depends on the health of our planet.
“Don’t produce new plastic, but fight the plastic pollution of our oceans”
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Be Tanics: Currently, no other company in the nutritional supplement sector offers a similar combination of high-quality products, sustainable packaging, and environmental commitment as Be Tanics. Almost all capsules are currently still packaged in harmful PET containers! With our approach, we not only strive to avoid producing new plastic, but also to actively combat plastic pollution in our oceans.
Munich Startup: What is your founding story?
Be Tanics: The idea for Be Tanics was born in 2019, when Katharina and Peter repeatedly found plastic waste such as bottles, bags, and even supplement packaging on the beaches during their trip through Southeast Asia. Promoting health while harming the planet? Surely there has to be an alternative! In 2021, our idea became reality.
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Be Tanics: We did indeed face quite a few challenges! One of our biggest challenges, however, was finding highly qualified experts as partners who would actively support us in our vision and with whom we would enjoy working. Since a newly founded startup cannot cover all important areas on its own, we are very happy to be able to continually draw on the knowledge of industry experts.
Of course, cash flow is also a major challenge for us. Like probably every young startup, we encountered difficulties at one point or another, such as pre-financing goods, packaging, and raw materials. That was definitely a major challenge that we had to solve.
Be Tanics aims to remove one million kilograms of plastic from the ocean
Munich Startup: How are things going?
Be Tanics: We're still at the very beginning of our journey, but business is going really well so far! Our product range currently consists of three natural organic products, and our 100 percent plastic-free packaging has been very well received by the community! In total, we've already received 42 excellent customer reviews in our first few weeks after launch and have already collaborated with several influencers. We've already got a lot planned for the future – stay tuned!
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Be Tanics: For us, Munich is currently an ideal location, as the majority of our partners are from the surrounding area, giving us the opportunity to visit the company from time to time. The high number of sustainable startups and good universities and colleges makes Munich very attractive for us to develop our network However, it must also be said that rental prices for office space in Munich are already extremely high compared to the rest of Germany.
Munich Startup: Quick exit or long breath?
Be Tanics: Our ultimate goal is to remove one million kilograms of plastic from the ocean by 2025 through the sale of our products. To achieve this, we plan to significantly expand our product portfolio in the coming years and thus offer an even wider selection of plastic-free alternatives for natural dietary supplements. So, we're clearly taking a long view!
