The young company afreshed survived the critical third year well. And not only that, there was real reason to celebrate, because the 22-year-old Linz Petrinum graduates Maximilian Welzenbach, Bernhard Bocksrucker and Lukas Forsthuber have saved around two million kilograms of food since February 2021 by collecting fruit and vegetables – something that would otherwise not be available at all would go on sale – bought directly from the producers and packaged in “savior boxes” and delivered directly to the customer’s home.
A third of food worldwide is thrown away or composted, farmed or converted into electricity in biogas plants. “After graduating from high school, we said we wanted to do something regarding food waste,” black belt judoka Welzenbach remembers at the beginning. Despite the fears of those around them, the three founded afreshed and built a partner and customer network at record speed. The current part-time students at the University of Krems deliver around 5,000 boxes (in three sizes) in Austria every week. On average, 8,500 Kisterl subscribers receive rescued fruit and vegetables in a surprising selection every two and a half weeks. “We don’t know yet what we’ll get delivered next week,” said the founders.
Breakeven point reached
The price for the boxes is lower than that of other food boxes because the food is saved and therefore does not always have the usual shape in stores. Nevertheless, the boys already achieved sales of almost five million euros in the past financial year, and this year the goal is to double it: 9,500 deliveries per week and sales of ten million euros. The break-even point was reached this month, so a profit is likely to be made for the first time this year.
In Upper Austria, the second most important market for food rescuers following Vienna, afreshed makes around 1,000 deliveries per week. The vegetables and fruit mainly come from 15 farms in Austria and Italy, and a good 50 other farmers are also in the network. The reasons that they sell to afreshed are often systemic overproduction and unfulfilled forms and standards. Depending on the amount, these producers deliver goods to the central warehouse in Mistelbach near Vienna, where they are packed manually and delivered to the end customers via four distribution centers – one of them in Wels.
The empty plastic box from the previous delivery is taken back, thereby satisfying one of the four company pillars: Zero Waste. Sustainability, convenience and fairness are the others. That’s why the young entrepreneurs also pay the farmers an “appropriate price, because fairness along the value chain is important to us.” Around 45 percent of the sales price – “and therefore significantly more than usual” – goes to the producers, a further 29 percent to the deliverers, and 26 percent stays with the company, which is based in Linz.
A good ten employees are employed directly at afreshed, “but around 50 people are active for us, from the packer to the driver.” The next step is the expansion into Germany, which is on hold for the time being due to a lack of money. The venture capital market is currently very dry, but the founders are confident that this will change once more. For the time being, the network in Austria is being consolidated, producing its own products from the rescued food and working on a recipe app. Still “24/7”, i.e. around the clock.
Author
Ulrike Rubasch
Economics editor
Ulrike Rubasch
