Munich Startup: Who are you and what do you do? Please introduce yourselves briefly!
Epique: We're Dirk (34) and Eva Johnston (30). We both studied musical theater and were also actors for a few years. We'd like to tell you a brief summary of how we met.
"A Scotsman and a Dutch woman meet on stage in Stuttgart during Mamma Mia. She plays the lead role, Sophie, and he plays her lover, Sky. What was immediately great chemistry on stage also sparked offstage a few months later."
We couldn't have met in a more clichéd way!
In 2017, we moved from Amsterdam to the German Alps. After a month of switching to a vegan diet, we created our first raw pâtisserie. We found these little explosions of flavor so epic that we wanted to share them with everyone. So we came up with the crazy idea of going into business for ourselves and opening a Food startup to found.
Healthy snacking with vegan raw cakes
Munich Startup: What problem does your startup solve?
Epique: Our sweet and vegan cakes are a healthy way to satisfy sweet cravings and the guilt that comes with indulging in unhealthy sugar. There are very few sweets or baked goods that can be enjoyed while maintaining a healthy diet.
Our solution for this is our truly delicious, vegan, organic-certified raw cakes, which we create and produce in our own factory. These raw cakes can be enjoyed in moderation with a clear conscience, and one slice a day even contributes to a healthy diet. We call this Épique!
Munich Startup: But that's been around for a long time!
Epique: Yes and no – there are organic cakes, but our raw patisserie is absolutely unique in Germany, so we have entered completely new territory here and there is really nothing that can be compared to our slices.
“Raw Movement” is not an everyday term in Germany
Munich Startup: What have been your three biggest challenges so far?
Epique: One of the biggest challenges for us was to sell a product “X” on the German market, which had never existed before and, above all, no one knew about. This required a lot of explanation and patience in the beginning.
Marketing was therefore a major challenge for us, because unlike in Australia, for example, the "raw movement" isn't a common term in Germany. So, when it comes to cakes or nut slices, most people assume they're baked, but with us, everything is raw, so we opted for raw pâtisserie—and it simply sounds nicer than, say, raw food cake.
We then had this great product and we knew people would love it – but as we discovered, it's not easy to found a startup in Germany, especially a startup in the food industry. It took almost a full year from our founding in 2019 until we were able to start our first sale. We also had startup consulting that helped us overcome all the hurdles.
Challenge number three was logistics. We wanted to ship our beautifully designed raw patisserie frozen throughout Germany so that our customers could enjoy the slices for a long time. Our goal was to do this sustainably and affordably. We found a fantastic sustainable packaging made from recycled paper, shipped with dry ice, and delivered to the customer within 24 hours via Go Express.
Product development is already underway
Munich Startup: Where would you like to be in one year, where in five years?
Epique: At the end of December 2021, we launched our nationwide online shipping, and this year we definitely plan to expand our Raw Pâtisserie offerings even further in Germany.
In five years, we want Épique to be a nationally recognized brand for sustainable, healthy, and delicious organic sweets. We would also like to offer other products alongside our Raw Pâtisserie and are already working on product development with many new ideas.
Munich Startup: How do you rate Munich as a startup location?
Epique: We both grew up in and around Munich, lived there for a long time, and simply love it. Munich is the ideal location for us and our startup because our product is unique here, and so far we've been welcomed with open arms. The feedback we've received at our store on Max-Weber-Platz is simply fantastic.
Munich Startup: Risk or security?
Epique: Two foreigners founded a startup shortly before the first Corona lockdown – I would say it was pure risk, and that was it for us too, because our actual customers had to close for the time being, which allowed further ideas to develop.
We have always had to play the risk card, because in these times, as a startup, you cannot rest on any security.
