Sandbox

THE WEB-ENHANCED MUESLI FROM GERMANY

September 15th, 2008 by Nico Luchsinger

Selling Muesli (the german word for cereals) doesn’t sound like the most exciting job in the world, right? But actually, it can be. At least when you’re doing it over the internet, in Web 2.0-style. And this is exactly what Hubertus (27), Philipp (28) and Max (26), three friends who studied together in the german city of Passau, are doing.

It all started with a radio ad for muesli they overheard a couple of years ago, explained Max when I called him to hear more about the story of their company. “We immediately thought: We can do better – not only the ad, but also the product.” Muesli, said Max, is one of those products who hasn’t really been changed since its invention by Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner more than hundred years ago.

The three friends immediately realized the potential of web-enhanced muesli. Since muesli is mixed together from different ingredients such as cereals, fruits and nuts, it is a highly customizable product. And what better way to offer customized products than through a website?

In 2007, Mymuesli.de went live and, despite no advertising at all, became an immediate success. The site not only allows you to completely customize your muesli by chosing every ingredient (thus allowing for 566 quadrillion combinations, as the site proudly states) – you can also save your mix, share it with others and even embed it in your blog. Those features, says Max, were and still are crucial to the success of the young company, which by now has 40 employees and delivers to Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the UK.

“The internet is still a place for great innovation”, says Max. It’s also a place where you can buy excellent muesli.