Vegan burger - the new happiness for meat lovers

Doing something good and becoming self-employed - with the opening of their vegan restaurant 'FROINDLICHST' in Hamburg Hendrik Terner and Kerrin Kruse had the right impulse. It was pretty obvious to both of them that vegan nutrition will not remain a trend but will sustainably change the lifestyles of many people in the long term. That was at the end of 2015. Since then, the two young entrepreneurs now have two restaurants and just about 60 employees.

Hendrik, what is the FROINDLICHST all about?

We are a very young team, the average age of our 60 employees is 25 years. The atmosphere is correspondingly relaxed and unconventional where necessary. This is well received by our guests. As the first vegan restaurant in Hamburg - Winterhude we are happy about the openness of our customers, for whom we are always looking for new impulses and creations. In addition to bowls and special pizzas, vegan burgers are an essential dish for us – they are responsible for almost 80% of our sales now.

Hendrik Terner and Kerrin Kruse eating burger
Hendrik Terner and Kerrin Kruse

Burger, but vegan, sounds like an experiment?

In the beginning we had a hard time and experimented a lot with Seitan, mushrooms and co. We were not really satisfied. The German market has so far had a hard time with vegan patties, especially with large customers like us as a restaurant. We have purchased our products from Great Britain and the Netherlands for a long time.


Seems like the Beyond Meat Patty is just the perfect match for you, isn't it?

Indeed - soya-free, wheat-free and without unnecessary additives - this is an ideal addition to our menu. We have followed the development of Beyond Meat very closely, hardly a country where the product has not hit the market like a bomb. We eagerly awaited the launch in Germany. Thanks to our METRO customer manager, we were supplied at the same time as the launch.

What do you like about products like the Beyond Meat Patty?

I think they can be an entry into the world of veganism. There were some guests who really didn't want to believe that they were dealing with a vegan burger.

Does the popularity of such individual products help veganism?

This is at least very true for the Beyond Meat Burger. There were many customers at the beginning who found us just because they were looking for restaurants who do serve this special product. 70% of our vegan customers are female, for the escort the Beyond Burger is an entry into the world of veganism. We are happy when such products bring the topic of vegan nutrition even further forward and convince even more people to live vegan. So, yes, I think it helps.

Will veganism be the nutrition of the future?

Well, the challenge will be that the increasing demand does not come at the expense of quality. And of course you have to consider what else is contained in the products.


Protein-rich recipe for success

The start-up company Beyond Meat, founded in 2009 by Ethan Brown, is part of the
USA is one of the most sought-after young companies in the food industry. The list of prominent supporters are long - including entrepreneur Bill Gates, actor Leonardo DiCaprio and the two Twitter founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone, who have all invested in the company in recent years. The founder Ethan Brown was able to convince all of them of his revolutionary products. The concept is to replace animal protein with plant-based protein that tastes good and is better for the environment. Since November 2018, METRO Germany offers the Beyond Meat Patty as the first wholesaler in Germany.

Restaurant counter
Hendrik Terner and Kerrin Kruse eating burger
Vegan Salad
People eating vegan food
Vegan burger with sweet potato fries

About ... the Team behind "FROINDLICHST"

Hendrik Terner and Kerrin Kruse

Hendrik Terner and his business partner Kerrin Kruse share the passion for cooking and love to travel the world by camper. After their degree in Business Adminstration, both decided to start their own business. The original idea to offer fast & healthy vegan-vegetarian snacks finally became the mature concept for the FROINDLICHST.


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