Munich Startup: What does your startup do? What problem do you solve?
Kristina Schreiner, Co-Founder & Managing Director: Chewsome is the first startup in Europe to develop frozen, graspable, non-pureed baby and toddler meals, specifically designed for baby-led weaning (BLW) and children from 6 months to 6 years. Baby-led weaning means that babies feed themselves rather than being spoon-fed. It promotes motor development, strengthens intuitive eating behavior, and helps build a healthy relationship with food from the start. This requires solid food that babies can grasp themselves – not pureed porridge. So we’re solving a problem many parents know well: they want to offer their child fresh, healthy food, but lack the time or energy to cook from scratch every day. At the same time, the retail market is dominated by jars and pouches – hardly what you’d call “real food.”
Chewsome brings real, nutrient-rich meals to the freezer. 100 percent organic, with no additives, and designed so children can eat independently.
“We’re creating an entirely new category”
Munich Startup: But that already exists, doesn’t it?
Kristina Schreiner: That’s exactly what we thought too. Then we started researching: there are countless types of porridge and pouches, but not a single product that is BLW-compliant, baby-safe, clean label, and truly practical. Organic frozen products for children are also extremely rare, and if they exist, they’re usually not available until age 3 and often contain added salt, sugar, or stabilizers. We’re creating an entirely new category: frozen baby food that looks homemade but is produced with industrial safety standards.
Munich Startup: What’s your founding story?
Kristina Schreiner: Chewsome started with my own child – more precisely, with a feeding problem. My older son wouldn’t eat porridge, so I switched to baby-led weaning (BLW). I was thrilled by how much it promoted his independence and his interest in real food. But at the same time, I faced a dilemma: I had a demanding job and simply didn’t have time to cook fresh meals every day.
The products I needed simply didn’t exist. So I started developing them myself. From this very personal experience, Chewsome was born, and now we’re three founders united by the same conviction for better nutrition for children: healthy, graspable, without compromise.
Major challenge: fundraising
Munich Startup: What have been your biggest challenges so far?
Kristina Schreiner: Clearly: sourcing raw materials in baby food quality. We test every batch for over 200 possible contaminants. That’s expensive, time-consuming, and difficult to implement for many ingredients. Spinach in baby quality? Only from China or South America – neither option works for us. At the same time, we had to find a balance between regulatory safety and everyday practicality for parents. And of course: financing. It’s still not easy to raise capital for “baby food topics,” even though the market is huge.
Munich Startup: Where do you want to be in one year, and where in five years?
Kristina Schreiner: In one year, we want to establish Chewsome throughout Germany in retail stores, with at least three product lines. In five years, we want to be the leading brand for frozen baby and toddler food in Europe – with a range that supports parents at every stage of their child’s development. Our goal is to rethink convenience and responsibility, without compromise.
“We had to relocate production to North Rhine-Westphalia”
Munich Startup: How have you experienced Munich as a startup location so far?
Kristina Schreiner: We love the network in Munich – there are many dedicated founders, great events, and a growing community around female founders and impact startups. What we’re missing, however, are open, flexible food producers. We had to relocate production to North Rhine-Westphalia because we couldn’t find partners in and around Munich who could handle our requirements for baby food quality, small batches, and innovation.
Still, we haven’t given up hope that the local organic food trade and regional food scene will become more open to new concepts like ours in the future. Munich definitely has the potential to be a strong location for sustainable food innovation. But it will require more willingness to collaborate beyond the traditional organic standard.
Munich Startup: Outsource or do it yourself?
Kristina Schreiner: Both, but deliberately. We handle everything that has to do with vision, brand building, product development, and customer relationships. Our quality isn’t a matter of luck – it’s the result of control, attention to detail, and many sleepless nights. At the same time, we know when it makes sense to bring in experts, such as for regulatory matters or logistics. Our motto: think for ourselves, but we don’t have to do everything ourselves.
