Mazu Group stops

The start-up for low-calorie alcoholic beverages has been dissolved since the beginning of August. It relied on the US trend drink Hard Seltzer.

Actually, the start-up Mazu Hard Seltzer wanted to bet on the hype about the drink Hard Seltzer from the USA. But since the beginning of August, the start-up is now dissolved. According to the company, which was founded in 2020, the reason for this is a new classification by customs for the sparkling water containing alcohol. According to the start-up, customs decided to list the drink under customs tariff number 2208, effective January 1. However, this entailed too many complexities for the start-up, such as setting up a lock-proof alcohol tax warehouse. It was therefore decided to liquidate the company and not rebuild it operationally, he said.

Mazu launched its first drink at the end of 2020: flavor "Lime", five percent alcohol by volume and 100 kilocalories per can. With this, the start-up wanted to offer a "contemporary alternative to oversweetened long drinks and calorie-laden beers and wines," as Beverage News reported.

The Hard Seltzer beverage category has become popular in the U.S., especially among Millennials and Gen-Zers who want to give up calorie-laden drinks like beer, but not the corresponding alcohol rush.

Mazu founders Jonathan Georg, Moritz Groppel and Björn Thieme recognized the potential for the German market as well, and were financially supported by Berlin-based venture capitalist Liberty Ventures, as German startups reported.

In 2020, the company was not overindebted, as evidenced by its financial statements in the Bundeszeiger. For every nearly 35,000 euros in equity, there were just under 5,000 euros in liabilities. The remaining shareholder assets will be paid out to the shareholders.

Editor's note: In a previous version of the article, we had incorrectly written that the Mazu Group was insolvent and that this was the reason for the business issue. We have now adjusted the article and apologize.