The story of the Berlin start-up Every began in Paris in 2018. Benjamin Ahlers had just moved there for his first job. In his full-time job at the luxury brand LVMH, he ate less healthily than he did during his studies – he didn’t have the time to buy the right food and cook freshly every day.
But he didn’t want to change his eating habits, he says in retrospect in an interview with “Gründerszene”. This is how Ahlers came up with the business idea of turning vegan ingredients into dishes and freezing them.
His longtime friend Casimir Rob was his sparring partner at the time. He just graduated from the University of St. Gallen. “It was a loose idea at first and we were skeptical about starting something together as friends,” says Rob. Several months later, in autumn 2019, they launched the first prototypes. In March 2020, Every was officially born.
The start-up buys fruit and vegetables from German farmers and has the ingredients sent to production partners. There they are peeled, cut, sometimes blanched and cooled separately to minus 25 degrees Celsius within a few minutes.
Depending on the recipe, the producers pack the individual shock-frozen ingredients in cardboard boxes and add sauces, rice or noodles to create a ready-made meal – always frozen. That’s about a Bolognese with pasta, aubergines, parsnips and lentils. Or a hummus bowl with sweet potatoes, carrots and celery. Every has around 70 foods in its range. All vegan, without additives and as sustainable as possible.
A bowl that customers have to prepare in a pan or occasionally in the oven costs 7.99 euros in the Every online shop. The start-up also offers soups, porridge and smoothies – to “cover the whole day”, as Ahlers says. However, the warm dishes often end up in the shopping cart.
Shipping is free for eight or more products. On average, first-time customers order eight to nine dishes, according to Rob, so they spend up to 72 euros. For later purchases, there are almost twice as many meals. The average customer orders from the start-up three times a year, says the co-founder.
Every does not have a specific target group. You want to appeal to everyone who eats healthily. Hence the name Every. “Most of them are between 35 and 50 years old, have a regular schedule, work and have enough space in their freezer,” says Rob.
According to the Berliners themselves, since they started in March 2020, sales have been in the six-figure range. According to Rob, customers mainly bought the ready-made menus for their home office lunches. “In 2021 we grew tenfold to a seven-digit turnover,” he continues. This year, the veganuary in particular led to an increase in sales. For the first time, Every wants to bring in eight-figure proceeds.
The founding duo finances the business out of their own pockets and with loans from friends and family. So far, investors have not brought them on board. “We keep discussing it because building a team and growing costs money.” Investors are interested, but Ahlers and Rob still want to set up their start-up independently.
“We are aware that we are not the cheapest offer,” says Ahlers about his business model. In retail, Every competes with much cheaper ready meals. One reason why the founders opted for a purely online model.
Also: In this way, they receive more feedback and know which recipes customers like and which ones they still miss. “A great marketing channel is word of mouth,” says Rob. And since Germans are less likely to be working from home, companies in particular are now ordering meals to feed their employees in the office.
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