Roots first. Ground before Growth.
Most brands enter the German market through distributors, retail listings, trade fairs: box after box, ticked in the correct order. I enter through dinner tables, dive bars, sauna evenings, and the kitchen of someone whose taste your future customer can trust.
No launch event built around a screenshot for social media. But a real room, five of the right people, connections that continue after dinner is over.
By the time your product hits the shelves, the right people already know it. They tried it, argued about it, and told a friend.
I take progressive, international food and beverage brands from unknown to culturally embedded in Germany. In four months, you’ll gain presence in spaces that matter, first sales at the right stores and restaurants, relationships with creators, and a community that carries your brand forward.
Not through advertising. Not through a distributor. Through cultural access that takes years to build and cannot be purchased at any price.
Every brand is different. A fermented mushroom burger doesn't enter Germany the same way a Nordic gin does. A Japanese tea brand needs different rooms, different people, and different moments than an Italian deli.
That's why I don't start with a playbook. I start with your brand.
We begin by me getting to know you: how do you like to host? What does dinner look like in your studio, your store, your friend's communal dining space? Are we having a candle-lit dinner, or is it more of an apéro with snacks? What's the ideal setting to present your products – and why? At the end of the day, a brand is a form of hospitality: inviting people into your world. I need to see and feel the DNA to understand what exactly makes you you, what makes you special, what makes you a story worth being told.
Then I translate. Every brand carries cultural codes that are obvious at home and invisible abroad: the daily rituals, the ingredients that need no explanation, the traditions that are simply part of life. I pinpoint these exact things, the ones that might be obvious to you but won't be obvious to your German customer. I figure out what needs to be preserved, what needs to be bridged, and what becomes your edge precisely because it's foreign. This work is invisible, but it determines everything that follows. It's the reason I place your brand with this creator, and not the other one. At this dinner table and not that one. In this store, and not the one across the street.
What I do
What happens in four months
The right people. I connect your brand with creators who are genuinely part of the local food and cultural scene. Not influencers by follower count; people trusted for their taste and their dinner party invitations. A chef who works in a café, bakes their own goods and puts your product on the menu by name. Someone who uses your ingredient in an organic way – seaweed sourdough, a vegetarian ragù, a fermented condiment that becomes part of their signature dish. The type of person who comes to a dinner party and brings a bottle from their friend's wine label, and the next day, five people attending that dinner look up where to buy it online. That's the type of creator I work with. Nothing forced – it has to feel organic and authentic, even if it's still a partnership.
The right rooms. I partner with special places that inherently have some magic to them, whatever form that might take. Not standard launch events but memorable, joyful experiences that leave a lasting impression. A Japanese woodworking session where every participant walks away with a small piece of furniture they made that day, while sipping on your tea. A communal sauna ritual. I weave your brand into experiences that already exist, places that already have a following and a soul. Your brand doesn't interrupt. It belongs. It fits right in.
The right shelves. I place your product in concept stores and design shops that sell beautiful wares – not necessarily with a food focus, but places where a good brand is always appreciated, no matter the product. I like the idea of popping up in unexpected places. Small delis matter, but there's something powerful about being discovered somewhere you weren't expected. And I do this personally – by showing up with your product in hand, knowing many of the local restaurateurs, chefs, and owners, making a small introduction, following up to see how they enjoyed it, and making it easy to reorder. This isn't distribution. It's connection.
After four months, you’ll have something no distributor can manufacture, and no ad budget can buy. A network of creators who genuinely advocate for your product. Presence in spaces that signal taste and credibility. First sales at retailers and restaurants that matter. Relationships that continue working – because they started with a good evening, not a cold call. And clarity: you’ll know whether and how the German market works for your brand. Which products land, which stories resonate, and where your community is. That's the validation you need before you invest six figures in scaling.
Complete handover: all contacts, all learnings, all assets, all groundwork – documented and yours to keep.
Investment
€30.000 — my fee
€35.000-€45.000 — activation budget, managed by me
Four months. One brand. My full attention.
Great partnerships are built on collaboration and trust as much as results. My clients find a co-conspirator in me: someone who leans in and listens, takes the wheel when needed, but gives you the space to fill in everything about what makes your brand unique. Problems come up but get solved before they reach you – a neat, resolved parcel. Logistics decisions get made in your favour without burdening you with the process. And sometimes there are small, unexpected things: the right introduction over a candlelit dinner or a thoughtful detail that makes the next step easier. The day-to-day should feel productive and joyous. Bi-weekly check-ins you look forward to, not dread. An element of playfulness, lightness, and fun that’s woven into our work. A sense of momentum, direction, and security from beginning to end.
This is not for everyone
Not for brands looking for a German distributor. Not for brands that want to start in retail and figure out the cultural aspect later down the line. Not for brands that care about reach more than relevance. For brands that understand: the right ten people talking about you is worth more than ten thousand impressions.
Why not hire an agency or event studio?
You could partner with a great venue and have a beautiful evening. You could hire someone local for six months to build relationships. But who decides which venue fits your brand? Who knows that the communal dinner works for your product, but the club event doesn't? Who makes sure the creator, the store placement, the experience, and the messaging all tell the same story? I'm not the alternative to a great event or a great creator. I'm the person who knows which event and which creator are right for you – and why. That's the difference between a single activation and a cultural entry.
What working together feels like
