Every one of us has these days. Days when we run frantically from one meeting to the other, trying to grab a bite in between the events of our jam-packed schedules. On these days, eating is reduced to a burdensome chore we try to tick off as fast as possible. Saturo is an Austrian startup that proposes a perfect solution to this problem: the first bottled meal replacement on the European market.
“We were not happy with the status quo in the convenience food sector which is typically either unhealthy or expensive,” said Joerg Hauke, the CMO of Saturo. “On the other hand, the whole process around eating (planning, buying, preparing, eating, cleaning) takes up a lot of time and energy every single day. We disliked that and wanted to offer a healthy option for busy times.”
Saturo drinks come in three flavors: original, coffee, and chocolate. Each 500ml bottle provides 25% of the daily protein, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, and minerals intake. The company uses high-quality ingredients, such as organic fair trade coffee, and natural flavors instead of sweeteners or sugars. It is possible to live solely on Saturo: in fact, the team members claim to have lived on it for weeks during exceptionally busy times.
The Saturo team put special effort in developing their proprietary recipe, which, just like Coca Cola’s, is now safely hidden in a vault. The development process involved multiple large blind tasting panels to ensure their product is as tasty as possible. The first flavor they created was the original – a subtle, neutral flavor for everyone’s taste. Most of the customers, though, are crazy about the other two tastes – coffee (gives energy boost equivalent to two cups of coffee) and chocolate (tastes exactly like chocolate milk!).
Unlike other similar products, Saturo is not a powder that you have to dissolve in water. The team created a product that requires no preparation at all. Once you grab a bottle from the fridge, you are good to go. “That’s about as convenient as it gets,” said Hauke. An additional benefit of having a ready to drink liquid is the texture: powdered foods, no matter how well mixed with a household mixer, are not quite as smooth in texture.
Saturo has two founders. Hannes Feistenauer, the CEO, and Joerg Hauke, the CMO, got to know each other during their time studying business administration and mechanical engineering at the TU Darmstadt in Germany. Hannes is passionate about healthy diets; his goal to provide a single optimized source of nutrition was achieved with the creation of the Saturo drink.
The company has reached four-figure daily sales within 50 days since the official launch. So far, Saturo has served customers from 22 countries, including corporate customers working at Google and McKinsey, as well as numerous startup employees and sports enthusiasts. Currently, their product ranks #2 on Trendhunter.
The Saturo team has some ambitious plans for the future. Not only do they want to extend their offer with additional flavors and with food bars, but also to begin providing personalized nutrition on a mass scale. We’re keeping our fingers crossed!
