On The Grill with: Nucao

Nucao founders (L-R) : Mathias Tholey, Thomas Stoffels & Christian Fenner.

Every month, we put a food brand that’s on our radar on the grill. This month, we talk to Mathias from Nucao — a company that has partnered with the Eden Reforestation Project to fight climate change by planting a tree in Madagascar for each of their energy-fuelled, Vegan chocolate bars that are sold. The organic bars are made from hemp seeds and raw cacao and come in 100% compostable packaging. In the U.K., they are currently available on Amazon and Planet Organic.

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1. What’s your name, what’s your role, & when did you start your company?

My name is Mathias, I‘ve just turned 29 and my role in our company is to take us all to a next level of collaborating with one another. Perhaps you have heard of Holacracy in that context. Next to that I am the one responsible for all markets outside of Germany — which is mainly the UK and France.

In fact we started our business in the UK, or let’s say, that is where we had the idea for Nucao back in summer 2015.

2. What inspired you to start Nucao?

It was the limited number of healthy and yet functional options at Birmingham University‘s library that drove me crazy. I wanted to have a healthy snack but at the same time get a little boost for my mental performance. Definitely, I did not look out for a carb coma which I regularly fell in to after one of the available snacks.

3. What were you doing prior to starting your business?

I was finishing my Master‘s thesis when we had the idea. Before that, I was studying in Germany and Brazil.

4. What was your 1st (big) deal?

That‘s a great question. I think it was when we were granted a scholarship from the German Ministry of Economics which is an amazing award for young innovative start-ups — also financially quite rewarding. That helped us build our production facility in Dresden, Germany.

5. Any mistakes you’re glad you made?

Yes, building that factory :D

Looking back it was a necessary thing to do in order to show other co-manufacturers that it is possible to produce our recipe which until then, all of them were doubtful of. We wasted a hell lot of money to get our proof of concept, but this year we have finally sold all the machinery again and found a trustworthy co-manufacturer.

6. 3 words of wisdom for anyone starting their own business?

Don’t believe people that say something isn’t possible. Most of the time these people are just to lazy to think outside the box and go beyond their current limits. Be persistent and go for what you are looking for — especially if it is related to saving our planet or doing good to the poor. I think these ecological or social objectives are very powerful drivers for change as you get a lot of unexpected support which always boosts your motivation ;)

And very important: watch Simon Sinek’s video on The Golden Circle. Define your why! This is the core of your company. Working closely with a lot of befriended company I can blindly tell which one has answered this question and spent a lot of time on this and which one hasn’t. It is like one is using a compass showing you the right direction when you are unsure which way to choose. Without your ‘why’ you’re are sailing without that and often times literally get stranded.

7. What brands do you have your eye on at the moment?

Well, mainly our own brands of course ;)

We are currently crowdfunding the first natural plant-based protein powder to have a 100% compostable packaging — Nupro. We have developed a material with industry partners that is strong enough to hold the weight of our powder and yet biodegrade within a few weeks or months.

8. Name one thing coming up that you’re excited about?

Definitely the launch of our new flavours Cashew Vanilla and Macadamia Chai - the latter being incredibly suitable for the upcoming Christmas time ;)

Also, this year we might be able to plant our 1,000,000th tree with Eden Projects. That is something we are all looking forward to. =)

QUICK FIRE ROUND

1. What’s always in your pantry? Nuts 🌰
2. Go-to recipe? Lin-seeds with almond milk and crushed nucao
3. Guilty pleasure? Peanut butter with honey! 🍯
4. Book you think everybody should read? Reinventing Organisations and Deep Work
5. Favourite emoji? 😎
6. Best way to de-stress? Meditation, Infrared sauna
7. Sweet or savoury? Sweet
8. Favourite cuisine? Indian — Palak Chana!
9. Name a fun Instagram account. @Ketowize
10. Favourite song? Can‘t stop — RHCP
11. Favourite smell? Fresh scones
12. Favourite place to eat in the world? Little India in Dresden
13. Favourite food movie or TV show? Game of Thrones
14. Twitter, Facebook or Instagram? Instagram
15. Vegan, veggie, or meat eater? Die heart vegan 🤘🏻🌱
16. What would be the title of your autobiography? Deep roots — a value driven life committed to our planet (too pathetic?!?! :D)