The mission of the start-up Luya is simple and revolutionary in equal measure. In the workshop ‘Winning Customers’, Markus Binggeli swears in the four co-founders behind the start-up Luya on the importance of customer centricity, explains how to successfully position themselves in the market and what it all has to do with fish and fishermen.

Today’s workshop is all about fishing. For customers and clients. In the big pond. So far so good, except that everyone is fishing in the same pond. So what are the options for bringing home enough fish in the evening to be successful? “You can look for another pond, get a better bait or row your rowboat to another place and try your luck there.” These are the tips from Markus Binggeli, CEO and owner of Netzpuls AG, who is leading today’s workshop on ‘Winning Customers’. In the course of the evening, he repeatedly nudges people to take unconventional approaches to problem solving.

A start-up with roots in the Bern University of Applied Sciences
The young entrepreneurs’ interest in this topic is palpable even over the screen. Michael Whyte, Tobias Kistler, Christoph Denkel and Flavio Hagenbuch are four of these founders and are taking part in the current STAGE UP, the Bernese Business Creation Competition. Their business concept will soon be transferred from the Bern University of Applied Sciences into a start-up. Except for Flavio, all of them work at the Bern University of Applied Sciences. They are also conducting the research for their project there. With Luya, they want to refine previously unused side streams from food production into natural and sustainable alternatives to meat. The first products are based on organic okara, a byproduct of soy milk and tofu production. After two and a half years of research, the taste, texture and juiciness of the burger patties and sliced meat delighted the team as much as the first consumers. The decision to found their own start-up therefore seems only logical and consistent.

Markus Binggeli emphasizes the central role of customers in the workshop: “Think about how many new customers you want to win. It makes sense to roll up the sales funnel from the back here. The number of female customers determines the number of offers, conversations and ultimately the number of contacts/leads you need to generate in order to make it economically viable.”

“Our target audience is majority female and between 20-40 years old”
Markus dedicates the first breakout session to target groups. “What are your target groups and how do you describe them?” “We have identified three target groups,” says Flavio Hagenbuch. “The restaurants, the community catering and the end consumers. The restaurants include chefs and caterers who want to differentiate themselves with an attractive, plant-based offering and are always on the lookout for innovative and local products. Canteen operators want to offer their customers an attractive, healthy and varied menu and strive to keep the ecological footprint of their meals as small as possible. And finally, the end consumers: Vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians who give up meat for environmental or ethical reasons, tend to live in urban areas, are majority female, between 20-40 years old, socially active and want to eat healthy, thus consciously avoiding highly processed convenience products (which are often found in current ‘meat substitutes’).”

“Where do you want to position yourselves? ‘Worldwide’ doesn’t make sense at first”
After the target groups, it’s on to positioning. “My experience is that it takes 3-5 years to arrive in the market and gain sufficient awareness. So be patient! When you can no longer see your logo yourself, then you know it has arrived,” he adds with a grin. Positioning is about “staking the claim.” It’s important to focus. “Where do you want to position yourselves? ‘Worldwide’ doesn’t make sense at first. Define an initial field. From here, you can grow and conquer one field at a time. When positioning your company, try to avoid generic expressions and empty phrases such as ‘we are customer-oriented, innovative, Swiss made’. Think about what really sets you apart from existing products and services. This will keep you in the minds of your potential customers. Then, when the customer is ready to buy, they will remember you and what you offer.”

 

“To raise our profile, we would like to work with an ambassador soon. For example, with a top vegan chef like Zizi Hattab or a convinced vegan with great media reach, such as Dominique Rinderknecht,” explains Michael from Team Luya.

With so much commitment, the question arises as to what the motivation behind this business idea is. “We want to combat the enormous amounts of food loss in today’s food production and the negative effects of meat consumption. The potential of a circular food production is huge, as for example in Switzerland more than 1500 tons of Okara are produced every year and are hardly used today”, Flavio explains.

We wish the Luya team much success in conquering the plant-based market and sincerely thank Markus Binggeli for sharing his experience.