Big Idea Ventures has launched our very own podcast “The Big Idea Podcast: Food”. Each week Big Idea Ventures Founder Andrew D. Ive will speak with some of the most innovative minds in the food space and talk about the exciting projects they are a part of.
To listen to the episode click the links below!
Podcasts
Sticher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-big-idea-food-podcast
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/57TBllxq5CjpdVzzhNGjBp?si=u0hbKJqVQqqpkmyAv28ETg&dl_branch=1&nd=1
Google Podcast: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZC5jby90aGUtYmlnLWlkZWEtcG9kY2FzdC1mb29k
Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-big-idea-podcast-food/id1564457496
To learn more about Väcka, check out the links below!
Vacka: https://vacka.es/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/v%C3%A4cka/
Episode Transcript:
Andrew D Ive
Welcome to the Big Idea podcast where we focus on food. Today we’re going to be talking to Luz and Max from Väcka, foods, and Väcka is based in Spain. They’re a plant based Cheese Company, completely 100%, no dairy. They’re using cashew, pumpkin, and almond at this point and they’re experimenting with new ingredients all the time. So, great company. Let’s get into a conversation with them and look forward to your feedback and questions at the end. Thank you.
Okay, hello, hello. Welcome to the Big Idea podcast where we focus on food. Today, we’re going to be talking to a great company called Vacka. So V A CK A. That’s the name right? I got it right, right?
Luz
Yeah, got
Andrew D Ive
it. Got it. Fantastic. Always a good way to start the conversation by getting the information correct. So let’s, let’s talk about you guys. Let’s talk about Väcka. So what is Väcka? What do you guys do?
Luz
Okay, first of all, thank you for inviting us here. I’m really, really glad to be here. I’m a huge fan of this podcast also. So I learned a lot, listening through all these stories about the companies that are having these ideas to change the food industry. So thank you forgiving us the opportunity to have that chat with you.
Andrew D Ive
I don’t think anyone listens to the podcast. So for there to be too real fans, I’m very, very excited.
Luz
By the way, my name is Luz and the CEO and co founder of Väcka
Max
Max, I’m the CTO and co founder of Väcka and in Väcka we are crafting the future of plant based cheese, the future of cheese actually, because we are crafting plant based cheese with the traditional process of cheese making, but with the use of technology of the 21st century, that’s pretty much what we are doing.
Andrew D Ive
So tell us how. So there are obviously other plant based cheese companies out there, how is Väcka different? How is Väcka special?
Max
I think we have a really innovative approach of plant based cheese making, because what we are doing is we are studying a lot. Fermentation actually, our r&d leader is specialized in microbiology and artificial intelligence also. We believe that there is a strong knowledge about the pheromones, on how they interact in the dairy industry in the traditional cheese making but there is very little knowledge when it comes to plant based cheese.
Most of the companies are using the same treatments and the same strains that have bbeen used for centuries now in their industry, that they didn’t go further with that. Our approach is to go further with that and really study the perfect strains that goe along with the plant base. So we are using an innovative approach of cheesemaking, as well as new material so our company already has six products on the market and most of them are cashews, almond based, except one that is made from 75% of fermented pumpkin. Our r&d project is going in that way because we want to make a new line of cheese without nuts.
Andrew D Ive
Without nuts?
Luz
Yes. I think that from the beginning we wanted to give the message to the community that having a plant based diet is something fun. It’s tasty, is not something that you have to struggle with, trying to reduce your consumption of animal based products, it is something powerful and colorful. From the beginning we thought about the message and it was the first step and after that we found the product and the community and that was it.
Andrew D Ive
So one of the things I’ve been really impressed with, as far as Väcka is concerned, is that the products are great. I mean you have to get that great product, you have to have that great taste but you are also very thoughtful about your messaging, your branding. It’s very clean. It’s very strong. It’s very fun. I kind of see both of those things coming through from both of you, too. So, Luz, are you more on the communication, the consumer, the branding side? And Max, you’re more on the making the great product? Or do you both wear the same hats?
Luz
Yes. Now we are in that phase where we are more focused on our expertise, but yes, we are like creators in a way where we are working on content, documentaries. So we have these kinds of minds. I’m focused on the branding, the image, the design, with a powerful team and Max is focused on the product, putting electrical activity in that part of the design, right?
Max
Yes, you said it well. The fun part and the product part. Branding, is everything.
Every single product is welcome.
Andrew D Ive
So there are there are a lot of companies out there that are using cashew as a plant based cheese ingredient. I’m glad you did, but what made you explore other ingredients outside of cashew? And why Almonds why Pumpkin?
Max
Because the first thing was that cashew is not sustainable for us, because all around we really try to be the most sustainable as it can be. All products are 100% organic and we are trying not to use plastic in our packaging. Actually, we are not using plastic at all. And the same way, we are trying to grab ingredients that are more sustainable, and cashews are not growing here in Spain, not yet. Maybe with the climate change in 10 years, but for now, we don’t have any cashews here.
Also, the secret of the cashews is a bit sad, you know, because cashew most of the cashews of the world are produced in Africa. But in Africa, they don’t have the plants to process the cashews. So they send them to Asia to process the cashews, and then they come back to Europe. So we thought about it and said okay, we have to find a more sustainable soybean and that’s why we started to use almonds actually, this year, we managed to reduce by 70% the use of cashews in our products, and we will replace them with almonds.
Here in Spain, and especially in Catalunya, Aragon, there’s a lot of almond trees and because we have a lot of space in the fields and almonds grow naturally without using too much water so it’s more sustainable in that way. Then the pumpkin, I really do believe in that. I actually wrote a book about it where I tried 30 different raw materials to make the cheese and then we realised that cheese making is about the process more than the product. So if you respect the process and you are happy to plant the soil, you can have really similar product to the animal products. So there’s a lot to explore in that way.
Luz
Yes, and because we want to be even more affordable for people, because we want to compete with animal based products, so if we want to scale the production as we want, we have to be more competative in price. Also soy nuts. Cashew nuts are not so cheap.
Andrew D Ive
So there’s the price element, there’s sustainability, there’s the kind of availability, etc. I’ve also not really found many cashew cheeses that I’m a big fan of but yours is actually quite good, but it always seems to me like it’s a sort of solidified nut product as opposed to a cheese. Cashew cheeses haven’t transitioned from, this is a nut product to this is actually a cheese. I have tried some plant based cheeses that have got there and have sort of achieved that. I haven’t yet tasted your pumpkin, I haven’t yet tasted your almond but next time I’m in Spain, I’ll do that.
So that brings me to your business model and channel. Who are you bringing these cheeses to? Who are the consumers? And where do you expect to find them? Is it grocery stores? Are you looking for them in grocery stores? Are you more sort of direct to consumer? Who is your consumer? And how are you selling them your wonderful cheese’s?
Luz
At the moment our consumer and audience are mostly vegan people who are trying to make the transition to a plant based diet and the first motivation that they have, it’s about animal welfare, when in fact, we want to go to another kind of audience also because we want to impact the people who need these tools to transition to a plant based diet. So in that way, we want to focus on these people who want to reduce the consumption of dairy products and yes, we are going to in that direction now in this stage of the product.
Max
Want to reach the largest amount of people. So we are looking for those that are trying to replace progressively the animal products in their diet. And it’s important to be in grocery stores and retail stores that are not the common stores that plant based people use to shop. Sowe want stores where there are large amounts of people new to plant based products, where we can change their mindd by offering a quality product, that truly is a quality alternative to the one that they are used to buying.
Luz
Actually this is always something that is difficult to leave behind. I think when we get through this transition into 2013, we it was really hard to do that. We were talking with many people who told us the same thing. Like …. I want to go, I’m vegetarian, I want to go plant base, but it’s really difficult to plug in. The options that are on the market now are not really hitting it in terms of taste and nutritional values. Some people say this is like something artificial. It’s not like cheese, because cheese is tasty and is a wonderful animal product. So we really want to be a solution for these people, we want to have this impact. If we want to give them a solution, we have to be really high in quality because if you want to have healthy snacks sometimes, but actually it is healthier. I guess.
Andrew D Ive
I was just gonna say, I think one thing that I would aspire to, is to have all of your great products being tasted and tested in a grocery environment where the people who are walking past and seeing this little piece of cheese on a cocktail stick or on a cracker or however you deliver it. Try the product, love the product and then realize that it’s plant based. I think that’s the goal. It’s one thing as you say to get on the table of people who are either vegetarian or wanting to make the transition to a fully plant based diet. But let’s have great, great products that convince people as they’re just walking past in the store who put it in their mouths and think, Wow, this is an amazing cheese, I’m going to buy some to go home home with and that point they realize, holy smokes this is you know, this is a plant based cheese. This is not dairy at all. That’s that’s the goal.
Luz
Yes, actually, this the idea.
Max
There the journalist, famous Spanish journalist, food journalists specialist in all the kinds of foods that run the tests live
Luz
test, right?
Max
Yeah, it was. Yeah, he went to a fair with a lot of chefs and he took our cheese to the fair and he gave some to the chefd without telling them it was plant based and most of them, I would say 90% 95% of them said, yeah, it’s a great cheese and it has a really great taste. Then he told them it was plant based cheese and they said they were surprised because they would not have known that. So it already happened.
Luz
Yes, we have to improve. Obviously, we always want more and more quality but definitely we are on the way to try to convince the this part of region, right, that we want to be with.
Andrew D Ive
So when did you start the company? And how did you guys get together?
Luz
So we started back in 2015 but as a restaurant. It was a little restaurant in the district of Barcelona that we ran until 2019. Meanwhile, we were doing some tests in terms of cheese, obviously and we were cooking with them and we were letting consumers taste them too. After that we moved here, we are in a city Lab it is an urban sustainable laboratory. In 2021, we started this cheese company. We launched our products in March and in November we decided to close the restaurant because we had reached maximum capacity of the factory, and we decided to expand our cheese factory and try to focus on actually scaling this project.
Max
I’m French and when we turned to a plant based diet like 10 years ago, it was really hard for me to give up cheese and also for her because she really like pizza, Argentinian pizza.
Luz
Pizza is really like Yes. When you think about Europe and you say I’m going to Italy I’m going to taste the best pizza in the world, I want Italian pizza because it is great. But when I went plant based it was something that I have to leave behind ….
Max
We started to do a little bit in the food industry because we were making a documentary at the time. We realized that it was more than all the animal welfare that was our first concern and we realized that there was a lot more bad things happening in the food industry so that’s when we made the decision to change.
Luz
We tried to have a project with impact in food industry so we wanted to change the byline in a way and we started with something small but our ambition was to work on this change.
Andrew D Ive
So you launched Väcka, how many products do you have at this point?
Max
We have six products actually in the in the market.
Andrew D Ive
I was gonna say do you want to take us through them or talk about them a little bit so that we can understand what direction from a product development perspective
Max
So we have actually have like, three cheeses. We have one cream cheese that is small like Philadelphia cheese that is made mostly from almonds. It truly gives you that fresh cheese and dairy feel in the mouth.
Luz
I think is a third version of this cheese because we were we are always like upgrading it.
Max
That’s the latest hit in the market. We launched it like two months ago and we have had great feedback. We have another one which is a cream cheese with bacon. We have the mozzarella cheese, we are working a lot with restaurants and pizzerias. We said before we really like pizzas, and we realized that there is a lack of good cheese in the plant based pizzas. So we said okay, we have to offer alternatives to the pizza chefs. We made a great campaign last August where we invited a lot of pizzerias to participate and we offered them the cheese and we invited our community to try the pizzas and it really worked well, because for three hours they participated and they are still clients, so they’re still using our products now.
Luz
The people were going to their favorite pizza shop to order this vegan pizza with cheese now and they sold out all the cheese in one week. So the pizza shop owners decided they needed to have the dairy free option for their customers so it was a very good experience for us and we are going to repeat that this year. Now we are in 100 Korea’s and what we want to obviously grow in that sense.
Max
We have the pumpkin cheese. It’s a cheddar as I said before made of 75% of fermented pumpkin and it’s a dipping cheese that I think you’re used to eating in the US and in America in general. It’s great for nachos.. And we have cashew cheese, more mature. The brie is the one that is most surprising in terms of comparison with animal cheese. Usually people tasting it said okay, it’s cheese.
Luz
That’s it I think, that’s it for now. They are changing because we have the goal to change the ingredients for 2023 so yes we are on our way to adding more.
Andrew D Ive
So you need a you need a Manchego, no?
Luz
Yes, yes.
I talked to the team and told them I want the kind of cheese that has holes.
Andrew D Ive
Like a Swiss like a Swiss an Emantel.
Luz
Yeah, yeah, yes. I know they told me that.
Max
Emantel is French and Gruyere is Swiss.actually is French and here is Swiss.
Andrew D Ive
The other way I got it wrong.
So right now you’ve got products in pizzerias. Do any of them do an Argentine really cheesy plant based pizza at this point or no?
Luz
I go for them. The Union company has one because we have one classical Argentinian pizza shop in Barcelona and I go there and say, Please, you have to have this option. So, yes, the name is Orientis and they offer this specific pizza in plant based version.
Andrew D Ive
Sounds amazing. So has it always gone incredibly well? Has it always gone very smoothly in terms of starting the company, growing the company, getting people to accept your new products? or have there been some challenges along the way?
Luz
Challenging, always, everyday.
it’s because when you don’t have any challenges, okay, we have goals? Yes, not in terms of the product, the developing, maybe you can say something about that. But I think for example, for the cream cheese, we really love this cashew cream cheese. It was not enough, because people were saying here in Spain, they use Philadelphia for having toast in the morning. Soft, it’s a soft and tasty and we were saying like, okay, but this is okay, but we have to change it because we are here and people want to buy this kind of cheese. So it’s not like a huge obstacle.
Max
It’s important to point out that we are adapting ourselves to the market and to the cause. I have my French way of just making like, really strong tea it’s really a French type of major tea that I like. And I think drinking teas is cultural, every country has its own way. And every region, every country has its own favorite cheese, even if there is some commodities that are accepted worldwide, like mozzarella or ingredient like a grated cheese, or cream cheese. So we have to learn a bit from our consumer and that’s the everyday challenge that allows us to get the feedback of the consumer every day. And that was really great but we’ve never had to go to the street and make like a cheese tasting.
Luz
It was difficult to have this, like we had the restaurant and we had the cheese factory. And there was a time when we had a little bit of stress because we didn’t know how to focus on both and the restaurant was working really well. So the people loved the place and they asked Why are you going to close the restaurant? Really, because we love animals and we cannot focus 100% on this part of the project.
Max
But we let the restaurant go, we really focused 100% on the cheese. Starting to go better to grow really as we wanted it to grow. So yes, sometimes it’s hard to make difficult decisions , but we do have to make them and yes, we are facing new challenges every day.
Luz
We are lucky to have really good support, like within the company. Yes, in the team, the people around us, the institutions.
Andrew D Ive
So I think there’s a couple of things I get out of that. One is when you started your business coming out of a restaurant, you’ve had the ability to bring new experiments or new products, new dishes to people and really get some positive feedback or maybe even some negative feedback, you can really start to understand what drives people from a product perspective.
We have another company in our portfolio called Grounded and they’re a plant based Cheese Company based in California. The chap who created the products, had a restaurant in Australia and was a dedicated restaurant chef, one of the best in Australia, but he started experimenting giving people plant based cheese without telling them it was plant based and as soon as people stopped realizing he knew he was onto something.
So restaurants are a great way of getting that feedback but I think the challenge is, and this is really interesting, you can serve 40 people a night, maybe you can serve 60 people a night, maybe you can serve 80 people a night. But if you’ve got great products, which people love, and if you can bring them to the market in many, many grocery stores, in small stores and in direct to consumer and so on, you can impact and influence so many more people through that method than you can with 100 restaurants. So, you know, it’s just taking something great and giving it to many, many more people. Which is, which is amazing.
What do you see as the future for Väcka? What you said that whenever things get easy for you, you think of more challenges for yourselves. What, uh, what are some of the bigger challenges that you’ve started to think about for, you know, next year, the year after? Where are you going as a company? Is it about more cheeses? Is it about expanding beyond Spain? You know what do you see as some of the challenges that you’ve set yourself over the next year or two as a team?
Max
In terms of production, we want to scale our production. And that’s really the next challenge to come. In the factory, if we keep on rolling like we are we calculate that, by the end of the year, we will reach the maximum capacity of the factory. So we are already looking for partners and how to scale up our production. That will allow us to be more available in the market to lower the price as well, which is the first barrier with the consumer, we want to lower the price to offer the people the affordable option. Quality option. So that’s the next challenge. And then we want to consolidate the market in Spain, and maybe by 2024 we are going to go international.
Luz
Yes, we want to expand to 3000 stores for 2023. So it’s a huge challenge and we are putting all our energy into doing that. So 2023 for Europe,
Max
Europe on international markets. Yes. And in terms of products, the challenges are making new products once or twice a year. Always, as we’ve said, always have that positive evolution on your product, creating new new great products. We have a good team.
Luz
And I think microbiology is amazing. All the yes, all these live microorganisms. Making Science. There’s a lot of things to do, as I said before,
Andrew D Ive
You mentioned that production by the end of the year will be a bit of a constraint a constraint that you’re you’re already working to solve. What are some of the other constraints or other resources you’re going to need to scale this business? I’m guessing people is one of them. I’m also guessing that funding is possibly a second. What are they the two main constraints or other other things that you’re working on solving to make this business? Bigger and more scalable?
Luz
Yes, definitely we want to grow our team, we want to be like 30 people for the next year. And we are working on having this core team motivated and excited about this project. We are really happy because we think that we are now in a good position for that and we want to grow in that way. And I think in terms of sales, now is the time to market so that the the market is open to this new product. So the first thing that we need to have is this resources to offer them more. Yes, more volume of products. Tasty products, of course. And affordable. So yes, I don’t know if I answered your question.
Max
Definitely the plant based cheese view, I think because there were a great evolution in plant based meat first, and then the plant based meat alternatives. And they were really successful and growing a lot during the last year. Now I think it’s the turn of the cheese, eggs and fish alternatives.
Luz
In Spain, we are talking about 5 million people who want this option in supermarkets because they already drink milk and they want to have these products. So we need to bring in this amazing cheese. I think it’s going to be successful.
Andrew D Ive
Do you give people the opportunity of ordering your product via your website? Can they come online to Väcka’s website and order it? And if so do they need to be in Spain? Or can they do so across Europe or globally?
Luz
For now we are delivering only in Spain?
Max
It’s difficult. It’s not frozen product, but it’s cooled. So that’s another challenge we have. We have to find a good partner that can maintain that cold chain around Europe and other countries in Europe. We are working on it. For now we only deliver here in in Spain and Portugal.
Luz
We are also building business to customer relationships. A relationship with a new distribution company that works in Spain. We also have another company, Viola, and they disyribute in Italy, France, and they’re really strong in Spain. I think that they can offer us the solution also, but it’s not b2c directly. But we Yes, we are not really focusing now in b2b consumer because as we say, we want to have a big impact and we know that the kind of people that we want to reach are not maybe looking for this special product, they have to be surprised in the supermarkets.
Max
Definitely if you order your products online, from our website, you will be rewarded by having a great box and with the package that comes with it. And it’s more lpersonal than buying from a supermarket.
Luz
Yes, we used to put also some kind of cheese that we are working on today’s and it’s not available in groceries. So that’s something we definitely can work on that line. And meanwhile if we have more people in the team, we can put one to focus on the b2c channel. Focussing on the experience of having these products on your table,
Andrew D Ive
I love the idea of when somebody orders a product to be delivered at their home, you send a couple of tiny samples of your other cheeses along with it so that they can taste it and be like, oh, next time I’m going to order both of them. The first thing I ordered again, I’m going to order to two products next time or three products next time. And I think people like surprises like that. And they like getting a little sample of something for free, unexpected, which, if they taste it, and it’s amazing makes them want to reorder more products. I think that’s a really interesting approach. On the pizza side, the pizza shop side, you mentioned you’re in 130 Plus doors. Is that branded as fat cat? Do people know when they go in to get their plant based pizza? That it’s a Väcka cheese, plant based pizza?
Luz
Yes, actually, it wasn’t something that we like imposed. Or that we wanted or demanded. We didn’t say if you buy our product, you have to put our name. But it was something that happened because they wanted to show these customers that they are choosing something more natural or something organic and fermented. So they are proud of that.
Max
It comes naturally to the pizza shops. Put on the menu with pizza with cheese with motzarella….
Some little flags, you know, so they can put on the pizza. Stuff like that. So yeah, we are really focused on the brand we want. It’s a way for us to work with foodservices and keep property more brands. That’s really what we want to do.
Luz
So it has the biggest price and the highest price of the ones that are already on the market, maybe more like other kinds of brands. So they are saying okay, but I have to buy these cheeses, maybe the double the double bit with say okay, but if you say that it’s this kind of product, I can Yes, I can tell you that they are going to choose this because I because I love things. I prefer that definitely. I don’t want to have this like plastic taste in my mouth.
Andrew D Ive
I wonder if the pizza store would consider a test of putting a Vacca refrigerator inside the store so that if people like the Vacca cheese’s on the pizza, they can actually buy some of the other Vacca, cheeses to take home with them. So, you know, they tried the pizza, they liked the pizza next time they come back, they’re like, what’s that refrigerator behind, and it’s got the Väcka brand on it. And it’s like, oh, you know, this is their other cheeses. And people want to try a little bit of everything. And maybe they buy some and take it home with them. And every time they go get the pizza, they maybe get a piece of Väcka cheese to take home with them.
Luz
Amazing idea so yeah,
Max
We are already working on it.
Luz
And then we want to be everywhere.
Max
Yeah, that’s it too.
Andrew D Ive
I know that for example, in my pizza shop, you go in there and you can buy soda, you can buy beer, you can buy Canaloni you can buy desserts, you know, you can buy other things. So and you’re used to ordering your pizza and then saying and give me one of those things over there and one of those things over there. So having a Väcka branded refrigerator like a beverage might be a cool thing to do.
Anyway, I’ve taken way too much of your time. I normally have one question which I ask which is, if people are listening to this call, and I hope somebody is, if someone’s listening to this call, what kind of help would you want them to give you? What help are you looking for? What’s going to make Väcka more successful? Bigger, stronger, more successful company? So if anyone’s listening, what kind of help you looking for today? And how do people get ahold of you?
Luz
I think now we have to build a bigger team. So people who are interested in working with us, they can contact us. Definitely. And yes, we are looking for partners in terms of production. In terms of developing distribution as well. On fundings, yes, we’re looking for funds, because we want to build a stronger team to reach our goals, our mission. So yes, this is important too.
Andrew D Ive
Great so team members, partners, you said you were going to go through another round at some point. So I’m guessing people, if there are people that might be smart money, or investors who are interested in helping support and build a great company? Those those three things?
Luz
Yes, yes, exactly. If they have some creative ideas to have impact on people that’s also like the idea of the refrigerator free to the pizza shop.
Or we talk with someone who say, why you can not making a huge table like Guinness World table with cheeses and make the biggest cheese board in the world and things like that.
Max
Plant based cheese board or the world action.
Andrew D Ive
That would be cool. Yeah, you know, in our supermarket, close to where I live in Princeton, they have pre prepared cheese boards, where it’s, you know it’s a tray, with four or five different cheeses with some grapes with a fig with some crackers and things like that. And you buy the whole thing ready to go for parties. So you go and you buy it, and it’s $30, or it’s $50.
And you take it home, if it’s Friday night and you have some friends coming over with some wine, you take the top off, and you’ve got everything ready to go. Having packs like that in the grocery store ready to go. One that’s plant based and one that’s you know, they already have the kind that’s traditional dairy, but they don’t have any of those cheese plates for you plant based. So having those ready to go cheese plates for the supermarket that people take home when they’re entertaining friends or having a wine, you know, having friends over for wine and canopies and things like that. That’s a good idea.
Max
Yeah. Another one. Good idea.
Luz
Yes, units. Chase has to be different in terms of a yes. That people come to the motivations or the consumer
Max
Consumers in the US are different than those in Europe.
Luz
Yes, more trying to cook but definitely separately. I think maybe there are some of these cheeseburgers in some supermarkets here. So we can offer this.
Andrew D Ive
I’ll take photographs next time. And I’m there and I’ll send them to you guys so that you can see how we do it over in the US. And maybe there are some ideas that might work well in Spain.
Luz
Yes, I suppose. We want to send you the products so you can taste it. Actually, we want your feedback.
Max
We really want to bring some products to you?
Andrew D Ive
That will be great. That’d be great. Although I hope you don’t have to sit in your aeroplane seat with like cold with a cold pack of cheese on your lap, freezing your legs. Where do people get ahold of you guys at Vacca, how do they how do they reach out to you on social media or your website etc.
Max
Okay, or website is vacka.es, and Instagram is vacka42 And that actually means having to wake up in Swedish. We are making food to wake us up and wake up your consciousness and
Luz
to have energy because sometimes when you eat something that is like telling you want to sleep, we think that food should be the new energy.
Andrew D Ive
So let me get let me get this straight. The name is Väcka, and it’s a Swedish word that means to wake up, right? But Väcka in Spain, which is where you’re from, means cow.
Max
Yeah, exactly. It doesn’t spell the same, because it can be a CA in Spanish language, the compensation they say. So it’s as well being a plant based brand. Call this vacka.
Andrew D Ive
That’s what I thought you were doing. I thought Väcka guys were misspelling Väcka because you were a different kind of, you know, a different kind of dairy or a different kind of cow or a different kind of output like a different cheese.
Luz
Right. Yeah, could it be that so word that actually exists? Yes. So
Max
we like to turn on the on the straights. Sorry, we can say
Luz
Becca is like pika. If we want to say okay, and I think we should start doing that is Becca is not bad.
Andrew D Ive
All right, so vacka.es is the website. Vacka 42 Is Instagram. Are you guys on LinkedIn or something like that on the business side of things?
Luz
Yes, we are. Yes, I’m Ana Luz so you can reach me there.
Max
Max Boniface. Max. Boniface.
Andrew D Ive
Boniface okay. And I’m sure they can get your full names and so on from your website, and then go to LinkedIn and do it that way. All right. Well, thank you so much for your time today. I’ve really enjoyed spending more time with you. I feel like we should do this, like at least every six months and just see how everything’s going. So thank you for your time today. Really do appreciate it.
Luz
Thanks to you.
Max
Thank you, Andrew, for inviting us to your podcast. It was really great.
Andrew D Ive
I’m going to press pause and then I’m going to come straight back one second. Okay, perfect. So, there we have it. I hope you enjoyed the conversation with Luz and Max from Väcka foods, if you want to help them if you’re interested in their products, if you’re interested in getting involved, one way or another, either as part of the team or as an investor, or as a partner, by all means, reach out to them at Väcka. I think it’s vacka.es. I think they said. They’re also on LinkedIn and Instagram. The contact details are at the very end of that podcast.
Okay, so hope you enjoyed the conversation. I hope you found it useful. If you have questions or comments for me, please do leave them below or in the appropriate place, or reach out to big idea ventures.com I’m the founder of Big Idea ventures. We invest in young food companies, entrepreneurs, engineers, scientists to help solve the world’s greatest challenges. So that’s us. That’s me. Thanks for coming along today. Come along next week, to the big idea podcast where we focus on food. Thanks very much. Bye bye
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