Latest / The Retail Podcast / 🎙️ How air up® is Changing the Way We Taste Water – with Co-Founder Lena Jüngst

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🎙️ How air up® is Changing the Way We Taste Water – with Co-Founder Lena Jüngst · The Retail Podcast

• 0:00
  What would be that one piece of advice that you'd go back and
• 0:02
  give yourself? I think most people, what holds
• 0:05
  them back from actually starting their own business is the fear.
• 0:08
  What helps at that stage is just to make the fear concrete,
• 0:13
  right? And then think about, OK, what
• 0:15
  what would happen if I fail? And once you make that fear very
• 0:18
  concrete, I think then it's easier to actually work with it.
• 0:33
  Hello and welcome to a You know what, every time I start, I say
• 0:37
  welcome to a special edition, but this feels like a really
• 0:40
  special edition. I'm in Munich.
• 0:43
  I'm with Lena, the Co founder of air up and inventor really
• 0:47
  important part. It's an incredible opportunity
• 0:50
  to meet such a young brand that you can.
• 0:52
  It so makes sense once you hear about what they do and you
• 0:56
  think, oh man, wow, why did it take so long for someone to
• 0:59
  invent it? But Lena, why don't you why
• 1:02
  don't you tell us your founder story, if that's OK Let's start
• 1:04
  with from like I know that it was a university project.
• 1:07
  Be really inspirational if you can tell us about.
• 1:10
  Sure. So yeah, it started with a
• 1:13
  university project. So I actually studied product
• 1:17
  design together with my today Co founder Tim.
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  And we, we did our bachelor's thesis together.
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  And other than people think we didn't, you know, went into the
• 1:28
  the project say, OK, we want to design an innovative drinking
• 1:31
  bottle. But actually what got us really
• 1:34
  intrigued was neuroscientific studies.
• 1:38
  We watched the Ted talk talking about how our sensory perception
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  works, why it might make sense to change that sensory
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  perception because it's not adapted anymore to the
• 1:49
  environment we live in. And we thought, OK, that might
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  be cool to actually create a physical product.
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  And once we get bought into the topic, we were like, OK, in what
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  area do we actually want to, you know, use that topic for us?
• 2:03
  And we came or we we kind of stumbled across the topic of
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  nutrition. And I think I don't need to
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  explain too much, but our nutrition today is not the best
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  we know of that. The interesting thing is, even
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  though we are so aware of it, right?
• 2:19
  So we shouldn't eat too much sugar.
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  We shouldn't eat too much salt. We shouldn't eat too much fat.
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  We still can't discipline ourself to eat healthier, and
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  what we found out was that one of the biggest reasons for that
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  to happen is that we're just addicted to good flavour.
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  So we would always choose the better flavour over the
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  healthier choice. So we thought, OK, that's
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  interesting, maybe there's a way of simulating flavour that is
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  attractive without having to add sugar, salt and all the
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  unhealthy stuff. So we digged into the flavour
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  perception and what we found out was that our flavour perception
• 3:01
  is not only defined by our tongue, other than a lot of
• 3:04
  people think, but it actually is heavily influenced by our
• 3:09
  perception of smell. And that happens because while
• 3:14
  we eat on or we chew food or while we drink, we actually
• 3:19
  extract aromas and they rise up through the back of our mouth to
• 3:26
  the nose. It's called retro nosal
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  affection and gets their mistaken from the brain as
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  flavour and then just exhale. So we thought, OK, that's really
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  interesting. Maybe we can use retro nosal
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  affection to make something very healthy, a lot more flavourful.
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  And then of course, we came to the topic of water because
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  there's nothing more healthy to drink than water.
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  But people struggled so much with drinking enough water.
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  And then we thought, OK, how about flavouring water just by
• 3:57
  scent? So we came up with the first
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  prototype and actually quite a it's, it was a super short
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  amount of time and we realised it worked.
• 4:07
  And that was the, that was the first epiphany.
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  How we actually then started, it was a bit of a longer story
• 4:13
  because they had to come like our Co founders today, Like we
• 4:17
  came together and then like I think 1 1/2 years later and
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  said, OK, we want to bring this idea to market.
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  We applied for a scholarship. We got it.
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  And that was kind of the start because then we said, OK, we
• 4:28
  let's just do it as long as it works.
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  And that's how we ended up here. And.
• 4:34
  Yeah, that's wonderful. So one of the things I when I
• 4:36
  was reading about your profile, you talk about creative nudging.
• 4:40
  Yeah, right. And, and how and, and obviously
• 4:43
  I'm not a design expert, but I love design and I and I saw that
• 4:47
  as a concept. Could you just take us through
• 4:48
  what what that means because it sounds awesome.
• 4:51
  Yeah, I think nudging, We all know what nudging is, but
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  subconsciously because nudging is used to influence people's
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  choices by using their behavioural triggers.
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  So I think the most known example for that is that when we
• 5:06
  go through supermarkets, the more expensive food will be on
• 5:09
  eye hide and the cheaper food will be on the on, on, you know,
• 5:14
  lowered on the on the bottom because it will just make people
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  to intuitively, intuitively, intuitively.
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  Oh, that's A and choose the more more expensive food.
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  So it's normally used for pure economically reasons, but we
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  thought, OK, what about using that for the better?
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  Good for people, right? So helping people with their
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  behavioural triggers to, you know, choose healthy food or
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  healthy the healthy consumption over an unhealthy 1.
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  And so our concept by itself is already using nudging because we
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  make you drink more water by making the water more flavourful
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  without creating a negative or how do you say a disadvantage
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  for you. I have to put it.
• 6:10
  Yeah, so we're going to jump around a little bit, but the
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  thing I love, this is not a shameless plug.
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  I've written a book about the future and in that book I talk
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  about how sensory, how retailers need to get to sensory
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  engagement. So sensory how how a consumer at
• 6:27
  home, for example, will have their brand of whatever it is.
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  I'm just curious, when you're looking at this type of
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  technology innovation, which it is, it's both technology and
• 6:38
  innovation, where do you how do you see the future?
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  Then? Where do you see other examples
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  are we going to? I don't know, I don't know if
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  you can talk about it as well, right, but I'm just curious how
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  you see the future in this area. I.
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  Think where we are right now, we have just scratched the surface,
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  right? So we're going to of course
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  further improve the technology that we have and improve the
• 7:01
  products that we already sell. But of course, we're also
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  digging into, OK, what's more like how can we use that further
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  in other maybe product categories, maybe for food,
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  maybe, you know, there's in the health sector, there's a lot
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  more to do with it. Of course I can't talk about
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  like the specific ideas, but. You're just getting started.
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  I mean, we're just getting started, but I think in general
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  the topic of olfaction is so interesting because it's not yet
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  scientifically studied as much as other sensory topics.
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  Like the visual topic is so much studied already, but olfaction
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  itself and there's a lot more to come.
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  And I think the interesting part of about it is that it
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  influences us so much without us even realising.
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  So the send goes directly to your long term memory.
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  It's the I, I think you know the effect like, you know, when you
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  go into, you know, in your grandma's house.
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  School dinners I I have a smell, right?
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  There's a smell for school dinners, so.
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  It's super emotional, it's extremely interesting, so I'm
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  very excited about what's more to come with the topic of
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  affection. Yeah, I just tip of the iceberg,
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  but but then in terms of when I was looking at the book, I have
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  quite a few different ideas of where they can use it.
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  And I know some grocers have been experimenting with how they
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  can be part of that process. So the first time you get that
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  sensual experiment, sorry, that sensory experience, how can the
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  retail brand be there, right. Because then that becomes really
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  powerful because then if I'm associating smell with a brand,
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  then anyway we're getting off pieced.
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  So you, you, you've scaled this business.
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  Just going back to what you were saying earlier on, there was 5
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  of you who'd finished university.
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  You had the idea, the invention with your Co founder.
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  Then you had the other partners to sort of come in and
• 8:59
  operationalize. So you started from 5 people.
• 9:02
  We're now in in your headquarters, which is about 300
• 9:06
  people. What are the key moments for you
• 9:08
  along that journey? What are the things that stand
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  out for you? There's so many moments, but I,
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  I think the most interesting one for us was because I think what
• 9:17
  you in the hindsight, it's always easy to say, ah, it makes
• 9:21
  so much sense to send water because, you know, it's, I think
• 9:27
  sometimes people think, yeah, that's, that's an easy.
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  It's like, it's, it's not in rocket science.
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  It's a simple idea. But nevertheless, once like when
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  we started and we were like this could be interesting, we started
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  to talk to actually a lot to retailers, people like whoever
• 9:43
  is going to, you know, pay for cent and water, right?
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  So that the in the beginning there was this a lot of
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  insecurity whether this ever going to work.
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  And once we came to the market in 2019, which was in summer, we
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  had produced 80,000 starter sets as a as a start, which is was
• 10:05
  crazy to me because I mean, imagine we all came just from
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  university. I studied product design, but
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  I've never designed a product that ever went to market in that
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  scale. We had two months and I was
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  like, I was sitting that night like, you know, in front of my
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  computer and like thinking, am I now going to make a mistake?
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  This is going to be produced 80,000 times.
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  So the relief was huge when we saw after we came to market and
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  I mean, our first attempts of marketing were like, if I look
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  at this right now, I'm like, Oh my God, it's almost a shaming,
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  you know? But it worked.
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  We sold off those 80,000 started sets within six weeks.
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  And I think that was the epiphany moment where we're
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  like, OK, this has potential. And then everything went so
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  fast. Like we grew like we were five
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  people at that. Like, no, I think after Mark
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  start we were like 10 people. Around end of the year we were
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  30 people and of next year we were 90 people.
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  End of the year after we were 170 people.
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  So it, it was just a huge growth.
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  And you know, I think at that point it's so hard to take
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  everything in because everything happens so fast that it's really
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  hard to point a finger to like a specific moment.
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  That's OK. What would be that one piece of
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  advice that you'd go back and give yourself when you're at 5
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  people? What could you have gone back
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  and said? I think I think there are two
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  things. I think the one thing that I
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  recently listened to a podcast and I think it was pointed out
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  in the right way. I think most people, what holds
• 11:54
  them back from actually starting their own business is the fear
• 11:58
  that you have OK, what it's what what would happen if it's going
• 12:01
  to fail? Like if I'm going to be
• 12:04
  perceived as the big failure in my friendship group are already
• 12:08
  all working at consulting companies, you know, but I think
• 12:11
  what helps at that stage is just to make the fear concrete,
• 12:16
  right? And then think about OK, what,
• 12:19
  what, what would happen if I fail?
• 12:21
  And once you make that fear very concrete, I think then it's
• 12:24
  easier to actually work with it and say, OK, but you know, if
• 12:29
  it, if I fail in that direction, maybe I, you know, what's the
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  worst thing to happen. Then I've learned like I have
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  invested a year of my life into that idea didn't work out, you
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  know, So I think concrete, make your fears concrete, lay them
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  out and then start work with them.
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  And then I'm, I'm sure you get to the point where you're like,
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  OK, I'm just going to start tomorrow.
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  I think that's one part. The other thing that I would
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  advise my younger self is listen to your gut feeling.
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  I think you, you, it's really easy to get derailed from your
• 13:04
  gut feeling because you want, especially when you start,
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  there's so much, so many more people who have more experience
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  than you. But I think what you tend to
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  forget is that you are the person that knows the product
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  best, right? So I think your gut feeling
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  normally is, is on the right side.
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  And before losing yourself in, in discussions, I would now say
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  always just do small tests and prove if or get a better
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  indication if your gut feeling is right.
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  And I think that is a lot more constructive than, you know,
• 13:38
  locking yourself into a room and discussing about Alice.
• 13:43
  Yeah. Yeah, I got you.
• 13:44
  So the product is live, it's across Europe.
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  Where can I, where can, where can people like see it,
• 13:51
  experiment with a taste that they can come online, right.
• 13:54
  Where are the markets you operate in?
• 13:56
  So right now we operate in 14 markets, so mainly Europe and
• 14:01
  the US we have started I think in the recent years we had a
• 14:06
  very strong focus on GTC. So of course you wherever you
• 14:11
  are you we can order our product online, but we also right now
• 14:16
  start to get more present in in retail.
• 14:19
  So in in case you're in the UK, you can buy our product, the
• 14:23
  Sainsbury. If you're in in Germany, go to
• 14:27
  Calfland or in Spain and not yet.
• 14:32
  OK, but soon to come soon. To come.
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  But yeah. And of course, if you were in
• 14:38
  Munich and we're here, that's why we have this store in our
• 14:42
  office, you can come by, try the product.
• 14:46
  It's very interesting, I think, to experience how scent can be
• 14:51
  perceived as flavour. It's just an experience of
• 14:53
  itself. So please, whenever you have the
• 14:56
  chance, come by. I mean, there's just one thing.
• 15:00
  All these pods around here, they're sensory pods.
• 15:02
  Yeah, right. So the idea of this is because
• 15:06
  they're. The problem is I think people
• 15:08
  like when they see a flavour, they, they want to of course
• 15:12
  understand if is this, is this something I'm going to like?
• 15:15
  So we have created those scent flowers, we call them so they're
• 15:20
  pods and you can. Oh my God.
• 15:22
  Yes, you you like that flavour or not.
• 15:27
  Wow, OK, I think you've got a big customer.
• 15:31
  I'm going to spend all all my money, go back with bottles for
• 15:35
  my children. For what?
• 15:36
  Oh, it's incredible. I thought it would.
• 15:38
  So how? What's the shelf life for this?
• 15:41
  So once you have that depends on how you you look at it.
• 15:46
  But our pods, once they are packaged from the packaged from
• 15:51
  the production, the shelf life is a year, yeah.
• 15:54
  But one of the pods can last. Sorry, go on.
• 15:56
  Yeah, it lasts for five litres. 5 litres, yeah, Ltas so, but
• 16:00
  there's the I've got so many questions.
• 16:02
  OK, listen, I'm going to have to listen because I'm thinking and
• 16:05
  then I can see you've got these little things here.
• 16:07
  What so the? Those are for once you have a
• 16:10
  pod open, you can put them into the those little boxes and mix
• 16:14
  and match. Yeah, and you can keep them
• 16:16
  fresh basically once they're out of the package.
• 16:19
  Right, OK, I feel I'll, I'll do another video.
• 16:24
  I'm going to buy some stuff and we're going to do a taste test.
• 16:27
  We're going to go through all the taste tests and take it from
• 16:30
  there. Lena, it's been an absolute
• 16:31
  pleasure. Thank you so much for taking the
• 16:33
  time to talk to us. I believe you're going to be on
• 16:36
  stage at Shop Talk Europe. Yes, yes.
• 16:39
  Fantastic. So do you have any other plans
• 16:41
  while you're in Barcelona? Not yet.
• 16:43
  So maybe I can, maybe I can grab you in Barcelona as well and
• 16:47
  give you my feedback. It's been wonderful.
• 16:49
  Thank you so much. Thank.
• 16:50
  You so much. That was great.