"We see ourselves as a zebra"

If Meatapp founders Wojciech Konieczny, Manuel Rühl and Julian Bonn have their way, meat enjoyment and animal welfare belong together. But can this be achieved with an online retailer for butchery products?

With Meatapp, the founding trio has fulfilled a dream. The three school friends enjoy barbecuing together, preferably with meat from their favorite butcher. But what if you suddenly move away and the butcher doesn't have an online store? Not with us, the guys thought, and have developed a marketplace for high-quality butchers, who are supposed to meet strict criteria and are checked by hand.

Many young companies are trying their hand at meat substitutes, being vegan is trendy. You rely on meat, why?

Wojciech Konieczny: Vegan is definitely a trend. But from our point of view, the trend is more toward more conscious eating. It's not about not eating meat. Those who want to eat meat should have the opportunity to buy good meat. And that includes the fact that the animals have had a good life.

How do you choose the butchers?

Konieczny: Manuel Rühl did a dual study program at a butchery wholesaler and then worked there for twelve years. I myself was later assistant to the management there. So we can definitely distinguish between very good and not so good butchers. We started with the butchers we already knew from the industry. In the meantime, we have developed a criteria catalog together with a biologist who has a doctorate in animal welfare. We will be putting this online for the first butchers in the next few days to ensure even more transparency for our customers. Before we accept a butcher, there are many joint discussions. We also look at the farms, where the animals come from, and back that up with video and content material so that end consumers can see how the animals live.

Many small butchers don't have an online store because distribution over long distances isn't worth it. How does transport work for you?

Konieczny: We work with a young company from Munich that designs the packaging sustainably. Customers can dispose of them later in the paper waste. As soon as an order is placed, it goes directly to the butcher, who finishes it off. It is then picked up by DHL Express and reaches the customer within 24 hours. The goods are cooled with cold packs made of water and gel, which can also be recycled later.

Is there any money back if DHL is late and the cold chain is interrupted?

Konieczny: Fortunately, that rarely happens. We, at Meatapp, clarify every type of incorrect delivery personally and individually, but always customer-oriented. In other words, we do everything we can to ensure that, in the event of errors in the cold chain or the delivery, the customer is ultimately satisfied with the subsequent delivery, and especially with our efforts and service.

You yourself have mentioned on your website the high price pressure, why people rather buy meat in the supermarket than at the butcher. Now you're not cheap either. How does that fit together?

Konieczny: If you want quality, you have to pay for it. If you look at supermarket meat and see how the animals have lived and under what conditions, you have to think twice about whether you really want to eat it. Our butchers offer their goods to us for a small surcharge on the store price. The butchers pay an amount to us for onboarding and are then completely free in pricing. We also get a small commission of the products sold. If a butcher doesn't sell anything, then we don't earn anything.

What exactly do you offer butchers on your platform?

Konieczny: Our task and core competence is to show consumers what they don't get to see elsewhere. In addition to shipping and the IT behind the website, we also see ourselves as a media agency that creates content for butchers. So far, we have only been able to offer this service to a few butchers, as the technical infrastructure had to be created first. If they want it, we can offer them an all-round carefree package, from images to texts to get-to-know-you videos.

What was your biggest challenge in setting up?

Konieczny: The issue of time. Working a main job, having children and then founding a start-up at the same time is a big challenge. It played into our hands that we are best friends in our private lives, so communication was great and we could tell each other everything directly, whether it was good or bad. Keeping it up was also a big challenge. The first six months we worked without any impact, and you have to stick with it and fight your way through.

Where do you see yourself in three years?

Konieczny: If someone wants to organize a barbecue, they should immediately think of Meatapp. Secondly, we want to have as big an impact as possible on meat consumption, in other words, we want to make people more aware of meat consumption. We don't want to become a unicorn, but see ourselves as a zebra. The zebra mindset means scaling sustainably, not rushing things, and approaching everything thoughtfully. If we can make sure that less meat is eaten and of a better quality, then we can do something good.

About the person:

Wojciech Konieczny founded the start-up perxoom in 2019, from which he got out in 2021. Two years later, in 2021, he founded his second startup Meatapp together with his best friends Julian Bonn and Manuel Rühl.