9 questions for the founders of “The Lion’s Den”
In this questionnaire, we ask the founders and participants of the Vox show The Lion’s Den questions about their products and experiences on the show. This time: Kathrin Alfen and Felix Strohmaier, the founders of Lemonist.
On August 29, 2022, the twelfth season of the Vox founder show “Die Höhle der Löwen” started. In the first episode, the founding couple Kathrin Alfen and Felix Strohmaier presented Lemonist, a product that reduces pesticide residues on fruit and vegetables.
Under the motto “We have something against pesticide residues!” Felix, who had the idea for Lemonist, presented the product to the DHDL investors together with his co-founder and wife Kathrin. With success, because the lions Ralf Dümmel and Georg Kofler secured the deal together.
Contents
Lemonist reduces pesticide residues on fruit and vegetables
BASIC thinking: Hello Kathrin, hello Felix, you are part of the twelfth season of “Die Höhle der Löwen”. How does that feel?
We are very excited! The situation is completely new for both of us and we are not used to being the center of attention. Also, we’re not the type to really enjoy a lot of attention. On the other hand, we have a good, very high quality and very useful product that deserves to get the attention of so many people.
What makes your product so special?
Lemonist is very effective at reducing pesticide residues on fruit and vegetables. The application by the end consumer works in a similar way to washing-up liquid for dishes and is very simple. Put the fruit or vegetables in a bowl or in the sink, add a teaspoon of lemonist per liter of lukewarm water and leave Lemonist to work for 15 minutes.
Then rinse the fruit and vegetables with clear water and you’re done. When it comes to the ingredients, we limit ourselves to an optimal combination of tried and tested home remedies that are guaranteed to be non-GMO and vegan. Our compostable packaging is also important to us.
The idea behind Lemonist
How did you come up with the idea and your concept?
Felix was diagnosed with a very unsightly autoimmune disease a few years ago, which is why we had to focus more on healthy eating. As a result, we inevitably came across the topic of pesticides and had to realize that sometimes even organic food can be contaminated.
The idea for Lemonist then arose from the fact that we were looking for a solution to the problem and couldn’t find one – at least not one that met our requirements in terms of ingredients.
So originally we were just looking for a way for ourselves to reduce pesticide residues on fruit and vegetables. We then tried different things, spent money on laboratory tests and developed lemonist as a result.
And how did you end up in The Lion’s Den?
Our product is predestined for the show. We were faced with the situation that with Lemonist we had created an innovation for the mass market, which is not patentable. The fact that Lemonist is a novel product means we have to get it in front of people first.
Lemonist needs to be known. So we need reach. It is not enough that our potential customers know the lemonist logo. You also have to give us a few minutes of your time so that we can explain the product. A 15-second story on Instagram is not enough. But a 15-minute appearance on “The Lion’s Den” does.
Because Lemonist is not patentable, we also need to get a head start on potential future competition – that is, reach the mass market as quickly as possible.
With an investor who has the necessary contacts, this can also be done in a relatively short time. So ”The Lion’s Den” offers everything we need. So applying for the show was a logical step for us.
That’s how the negotiations went
What was going through your mind just before your pitch?
It was different for both of us. Felix was very relaxed throughout the preparations and the days leading up to the pitch. We knew that we were presenting a good, simple and above all useful product.
Kathrin was much more tense because on the one hand she had respect for the lions’ questions and on the other hand she didn’t know if she could answer everything so confidently. In the pitch itself we switched roles. Kathrin was sovereign, Felix the absolute bundle of nerves.
And how did the negotiations go?
I think our performance was rather average – unfortunately. Because of course we wanted to put on the best performance of all time and imagined how the lions would fight for the deal. In the question and answer section, however, we did not manage to fully explain the really great advantages of our product and the sense of a diet that is as pesticide-free as possible.
That was bad and caused some lions to drop out. In the end, however, we were able to convince the lion duo Georg and Ralf, who in our opinion are a perfect match for us and our product. In this respect, we were certainly able to convince some viewers of the product – and that is one of the very important reasons why we applied for “The Lion’s Den”.
Lemonist: Here we go
What has happened to you and your product since shooting and participating?
We haven’t changed anything in the Lemonist recipe. We did carry out further effectiveness tests, also with different formulations, but nothing was better than the original formulation.
Production is now more professional and logistically we can now shoot larger quantities. We have subjected the product and our marketing to a very intensive legal examination.
A very big topic was the further development of the packaging, which absolutely had to be compostable, but at the same time the contents had to be adequately protected from moisture. We will have to continue working on this.
And what happens now? What are the next steps for you?
We want a healthy world, healthy people, healthy animals and healthy nature. Everything we do follows this motive. We are currently focusing on products that reduce pesticide residues in food. But we humans also urgently need to do something about the loss of biodiversity.
In our opinion, this is a problem that is far too underestimated and already has far-reaching consequences. We are working on finding good ideas on how we can counteract this.
Looking back, how do you rate your experience at The Lion’s Den?
It was the best thing that could have happened for our product. We don’t like to be in the spotlight ourselves, and The Lion’s Den hasn’t changed that. Would we still do it again? Clear “Yes”!.
→ There is Lemonist here to buy.
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