Pulver anstatt Essen? „Food Replacement“ heißt der Trend, welcher jetzt auch hierzulande Kosmonautennahrung für Jedermann auf den Tisch bringt. Statt richtigen Mahlzeiten werden gehaltvolle Shakes angeboten, mit allem was der Körper benötigen soll. MeinSTARTUP hat HUEL Gründer Julian Hearn kurz zur Ernährung der Zukunft gefragt?
In short: your business idea?
Huel is a nutritionally balanced meal, providing you with all 26 essential vitamins and minerals, protein, essential fats, carbs, fibre and phytonutrients, in a single product. Which saves time.
What exactly was the trigger for the start in your own business?
A personal need. I ran a previous health and fitness company during which I went from 21% to 11% bodyfat. My friends wanted to replicate my results but they couldn’t because it was too much work having to buy, prep, and cook all the meals I cooked from scratch. I know protein shakes were convenient, so I hired a nutritionist to devise a formula which was as convenient as a protein shake but provided all essential nutrients.
Where do you see the target group or who are the desired customers?
Our main competitor is cereal and the sandwich. They are convenient but optimised for taste and not nutrition (the primary purpose of food). So our target market is anyone who eats a sandwich or cereal.
How much money was invested up to the start and how long was the lead time?
I originally put in £200k and since then we have not received any outside investment. It took a year to get to market.
What about the revenue side – what is the way to money backflows?
We have a good old fashioned rev model, we charge money for the good we make
What advertising or PR campaign has provided the greatest publicity so far?
PR and social media have both been great for us.
Which vision do you follow and which headline would you like to read about the company?
Our mission / vision is „To make nutritionally complete, convenient, affordable food, with minimum impact on the environment and animals.“
Which 3 tools can‘ you live without for daily work?
Google drive, shopify, basecamp
What does personal success mean to you personally – does it really matter?
I’ve made my money from a previous, so what matter to me me is to make something I’m proud of and something which makes a positive difference in the world.
What mistakes would your own experience could other young founders learn from?
I didn’t start my first company until I was 37 years old. Looking back I should have started younger. Startups are hard but so is working for someone else, however the rewards of a startup greatly outweigh working for someone else.
What question should a founder have asked at least once?
Would I pay for this? If the answer is no, it’s not good enough.
In what three words would you describe yourself?
tenacious, strategic, creative