Startup Revolution: Emanuel & Daniela Steiner of FELFEL On How Their Emerging Startup is Changing the Game
An Interview With Dina Aletras
Celebrate your successes — Being a startup in hyper-growth mode involves many long nights and can often feel never-ending, but I always encourage taking a moment to reflect and celebrate the milestones that have gotten you to where you are today.
Startups are at the forefront of innovation, driving change across various industries with fresh ideas and cutting-edge technologies. These emerging companies are not only disrupting traditional markets but also creating new opportunities and transforming the way we live and work. What makes these startups successful, and what can we learn from their journeys? As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Emanuel and Daniela Steiner.
Founded in 2014 by Emanuel and Daniela Steiner, FELFEL is a Switzerland-based startup revolutionizing the workplace and playing an integral role in the return-to-office movement and fostering of company culture through a diverse array of fresh culinary offerings. The hospitality-inspired Smart Fridge, the FELFEL, grants employees access to a myriad of fresh, healthy, and most importantly delicious, meals and snacks, cultivated via exclusive collaborations with acclaimed chefs, local farms, small businesses and neighborhood favorites and located just steps away from your working station. Following a decade of success in Europe, FELFEL recently made its debut in the United States with New York City and the Tri-State Area as its inaugural market, partnering with the chefs and teams behind beloved eateries including LaRina Pastificio & Vino, White Moustache, Laroot World and BKLYN Larder.
What was the initial inspiration behind your startup, and how did you turn that idea into a reality?
Years ago, I worked in a corporate setting and grew tired of eating alone every day siloed at my desk, which sparked the initial idea for FELFEL. Food is an essential part of our day, and as a foodie myself, I saw the potential that delicious food could have in fueling good work, meaningful conversations and stronger connections across workplaces. Today, we are shaping the daily experiences for employees at over 1,000 companies and counting. The benefits of FELFEL are numerous (cost efficiency, sustainable production, local farm and restaurant partnerships), but FELFEL’s greatest strength is our ability to bring people together through great food, and this vision has guided us from the start. Partnering with Michelin-starred and renowned chefs, local farms, small businesses and neighborhood purveyors who share in our mission has been crucial to our success, and connecting with people-first companies that prioritize employee experiences and interactions has further driven our growth.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company?
When we started our business 11 years ago, we had many preconceptions about what people would like to eat in the office — and this allowed us to learn the important lesson of what it takes to develop good dishes. In the early days, we mostly developed dishes based on customer requests and whatever our team members ate for lunch themselves, which was the source of our inspiration.
We learned to rigorously test dishes by looking primarily at re-purchase rates, meaning how often a dish would get bought again by the same customer. I remember one workshop that really stuck with me where we looked at historical data to figure out what makes a “hit” bestseller dish, why some dishes performed very well, and why others were just “ok.” In the end, we discovered that all the bestsellers we had were designed by a single chef, as opposed to a team, resulting in compromises being made in the development of our menu moving forward.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Three months into working with one of our first clients, I got a call from their CEO who was upset about one of the offerings we served that week. While I couldn’t initially grasp the concern, it turns out that he was angry because our menu had offered a delicious pasta dish with a generous amount of raw garlic, which his whole sales team had eaten for lunch. He couldn’t send his team to sales meetings anymore that day because of their breath!
This taught me to listen to our customers and refine our menu for specific team needs. At the end of the day, we are a B2B business, and we’re here to support our clients in their business goals. We don’t serve raw garlic anymore!
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
Following a decade of success in Europe, we are thrilled to have recently launched our operations in New York City and the Tri-State Area. Having grown up and attended school in New York City, selecting this market felt like a natural decision. It’s both a personal and professional accomplishment for our team. As one of the largest, most resilient working hubs in the world, New York City offers a unique opportunity for FELFEL to be a conduit for companies of all kinds looking to attract employees back to the office, as well as those looking to retain and recruit top-tier talent and create a strong sense of corporate culture.
This market entry also allows us to collaborate with new culinary partners to bring the diverse cuisines that encompass New York City and its surrounding regions to the desks of employees, making hyper-local meals from acclaimed chefs and neighborhood restaurants accessible daily.
One upcoming feature we are excited to rollout is our premium, authentic Italian coffee service, Gavetti, which will continue to cement us as a full-scale workplace refreshment solution in the United States — and will certainly delight the Tri-State community who are passionate about their morning cup(s) of coffee!
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Daniela and I are complementary leaders and work well together as a team given the various strengths we each bring to the table. For Daniela, her two most important character traits are that she is uncompromising when it comes to product quality, which is integral in a consumer-facing industry, especially as it pertains to food and beverage. She is also incredibly empathetic towards our customers, always looking to put herself in their shoes and consider how they may feel in a situation.
My strengths are that I am relentless and ambitious and will give my all once I set my eyes on a goal. I also don’t let outside noise get in the way of what is most important to our success and tend to ignore distractions that could take away from the focus that is necessary to accomplish this.
Can you describe a significant challenge your startup faced and how your team overcame it?
The pandemic posed significant hurdles for FELFEL, but simultaneously highlighted areas of opportunity for our team. A big challenge we had to navigate was the shift to remote work and its impact on office schedules and attendance. The adaptability of the FELFEL smart fridge and our services proved to be a differentiator and allowed us to continue growing even in those unprecedented times. The FELFEL’s ability to accommodate different in-office schedules has made it a proven asset for both hybrid and full-time companies. It also drove greater office attendance and utilization as we emerged from the pandemic. While the traditional office environment has certainly changed, workplace decision-makers and leaders are now investing more in the quality of their spaces and their offerings, and FELFEL has proven to play a key role in this evolution. The pandemic also provided us the time to examine our company strategy as the need for employers to focus on employee satisfaction and company culture became paramount. By addressing each client’s workplace challenges and collaborating to incorporate FELFEL into their return-to-office and retention solutions, we were able to strengthen their return to office model, as well as bolster our long-term strategy.
What strategies have you found most effective in scaling your startup and reaching a wider audience?
At FELFEL, our core mission is to cultivate workplaces where employees feel valued, empowered and ready to do their best work. To achieve this, we start with leading by example, investing in our employees to ensure they have a workplace they truly enjoy coming to each day, which is vital for fostering client relationships and scaling our business.
Since our launch in Switzerland in 2014, we have prioritized the development of a tight-knit community and culture internally, and this approach has been a significant asset as we engage with prospective and current clients and expand our business efforts. We have found that creating a supportive work environment and being success-driven are not mutually exclusive. When people are happy at their jobs and the environment they are in, it translates into their motivation and quality of work, and sets the foundation for broader success for our organization and amongst our clients.
How do you foster innovation within your company to stay ahead of the competition?
At FELFEL, our goal is to continuously improve and offer the best possible experiences to our customers. We achieve this by consistently innovating and exploring what’s possible. What makes FELFEL unique is its role as the modern-day office kitchen or catering alternative, using technology that is simple, smart and effective to streamline workplace operations for decision makers, and eliminate the frustrations for employees that come with traditional office cafeterias, nearby fast casual chains and delivery app services for employees.
One of the FELFEL’s differentiators is its flexibility and configurability, allowing the fridge to accommodate a variety of in-office requirements (hybrid and full-time work weeks). This ensures farm-fresh quality for each day an employee reaches for a meal in the office and minimizes waste. For employees, the most prized aspect is that the FELFEL monitors which meals and snacks are consumed the most, leveraging this intelligence to restock items that align with employee preferences and dietary restrictions while maintaining a diverse selection. These tech-enhanced capabilities set the FELFEL and our services apart, making it a valuable benefit for both employers and their employees.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your opinion and experience, what are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful And Innovative Startup” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
1. Nurture relationships — Building and maintaining strong and mutually beneficial relationships is foundational for any successful startup. At FELFEL, tight-knit and honest relationships are at the core of what we do, whether it’s with the chefs and food providers we partner with, our current and prospective clients, or our own team members, and this priority has allowed us to achieve success in Europe and now expand into the United States.
2. Encourage transparency — During the pandemic for example, we took the opportunity to deeply engage with our customers to understand their challenges and concerns, incorporating their feedback into our long-term strategy. This transparency and communication have not only enhanced our customers’ experiences but have also been ingrained into our internal company culture, creating a holistic approach to our company operations and client services.
3. Lead by example — As the founders of FELFEL, we demonstrate the values and behaviors we expect from our team, setting a standard for a positive and productive working culture. Given FELFEL is built around providing employees with the best quality meals each day, we offer these same benefits to our own employees and find it truly does encourage quality time spent together. By practicing hospitality towards our employees, this is in turn translated into exceptional client services and relationships, fostering an ecosystem where innovation and collaboration can thrive.
4. Never stop hiring — In a high-growth business, you should always seek to bring in top talent and nurture diverse perspectives within your organization. During the pandemic, we paused our hiring practices due to the uncertainty it caused, but the rapid growth FELFEL has experienced since has required us to fast-track hiring to make up for lost time. If you’re looking to scale, always continue to hire talent.
5. Celebrate your successes — Being a startup in hyper-growth mode involves many long nights and can often feel never-ending, but I always encourage taking a moment to reflect and celebrate the milestones that have gotten you to where you are today. At FELFEL, we emphasize this with our team, and applaud their accomplishments. To ensure this isn’t forgotten, we host an annual staff weekend event at a surprise location, where we celebrate the progress we’ve made together and reflect on the efforts that got us here. This effort shows our employees how much we appreciate them and is an opportunity to bring people together from across our offices to create long-lasting, international connections that set us up for future success.
More than four out of five startups fail. What have you done to break out from that pattern, and be successful when so many others have not?
Hiring the right people who genuinely believe in your mission and are invested alongside you is key. When founding FELFEL, we prioritized hiring individuals who are hospitality-driven, and this approach has been instrumental in our growth. At our core, we are an experience-based company, and building a team that is inherently personable, passionate and devoted to providing outstanding service has allowed us to naturally extend these qualities to our customers and the rest of our business.
Because of the role you play, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Craftsmanship. We believe that excellence in any product or service comes from deep devotion to that particular trade or craft. This is not something to be learned overnight but takes years to perfect. We believe if more people invested their time learning a particular craft, they would benefit greatly and experience an enhanced sense of fulfillment, both personality and in their consumers.
This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.
About the Interviewer: Dina Aletras boasts over 20 years of expertise in the corporate media industry. She possesses an in-depth understanding of growth, strategy, and leadership, having held significant roles at some of the UK’s largest media organizations. At Reach PLC, the UK’s largest tabloid publisher, she served in various director capacities. Additionally, she held leadership roles at The Independent Magazine Group and DMGT. Her extensive knowledge spans editorial, digital, revenue, sales, and advertising. Upon relocating to Switzerland, Dina took on the responsibility of managing and promoting the international section of Corriere del Ticino — CdT.ch pioneering the English page “onthespot.” She also was the Co-Editor of Southern Switzerland’s first official Italian and English bilingual magazine.
