TheLocalOne: The online farm store for Karlsruhe

Update:
TheLocalOne start-up unfortunately had to give up in June 2022. The idea is still convincing.

Karlsruhe-based start-up TheLocalOne supplies its customers in the Karlsruhe area with fresh food from the region. We spoke to the founders Jannik, Han and Lukas about online farm stores, climate neutrality and the importance of regionality.

Dear Han, before we get straight into TheLocalOne, please briefly introduce your team.

In the beginning, our team consisted of three people: Jannik, Han and Lukas. However, Lukas has now stepped back a little as he is devoting more time to his studies. Tim has filled this gap well and now takes care of the IT side of things at TheLocalOne, which makes sense as he studied computer science at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences.

Jannik and I know each other from our studies at KIT. We are both industrial engineers and have always wanted to start a company. After completing our bachelor’s degrees, we came up with the idea of setting up a delivery service for regional food during the coronavirus pandemic. The idea for TheLocalOne was born – and we have been working full-time in our start-up since October 2021.

In the meantime, however, we have also employed interns and temporary drivers, as we could no longer manage all this on our own. Our team is growing all the time. Of course, we are very happy about this, as more and more people are contributing to the success of the project.

How did you come up with the idea for TheLocalOne?

As already mentioned, during the coronavirus pandemic, we looked into the topic of start-ups and asked ourselves what problems there were and how they could be solved. At the time, it seemed desirable to us that local products should be just as quick and easy to deliver as all the things you can get from the big online mail-order companies.

After talking to other founders at start-up conferences, we initially tried to establish a link between bricks-and-mortar retail in Karlsruhe and the online world with TheLocalOne. After all, smaller stores in particular often have problems establishing an online presence. However, we quickly realized that this connection is not ideal: In traditional retail, middlemen drive up prices and personal advice is hugely important. Neither of these are ideal conditions for a local delivery service like the one we wanted to realize with TheLocalOne.

So we thought about how we could create real added value for everyone involved – and ended up with farm stores from the region. We knew the problem ourselves: You want regional food, preferably straight from the farm, but without your own car this is often very difficult to achieve in everyday life. On the other hand, it is hardly possible for a small farm store to run its own online store. This is where TheLocalOne comes in: We bring all market participants together and pool existing resources through cost-effective, efficient and, above all, sustainable processes.

Your range includes some classic products that you can also find in well-stocked supermarkets, but also many products from regional farm stores. How does that go down with your customers?

The balancing act between the “normal” product range and the goods from the regional farm stores is necessary in order to be able to offer our customers everything they need for their daily needs.

It’s no good if someone can order a fresh salad from the farm around the corner, but still has to go to the supermarket when they need rice and coconut milk for a curry. It is important to us that our customers can find everything they need in their everyday lives at TheLocalOne.

Nevertheless, we research all products to see whether they are also available from smaller, regional suppliers. In addition to regionality, we attach particular importance to high quality and clear traceability of origin. We communicate all of this transparently in our store.

In addition to regionality and local value creation, the topic of climate neutrality crops up again and again on your website. What specific measures have you implemented so far?

For us, sustainability means using products that are produced just a few kilometers away from the dining table whenever possible. We believe this is crucial, as long supply chains are a major problem, especially when it comes to food. Although many manufacturers now support offsetting projects, the best compensation is still to avoid CO2 emissions altogether.

For this reason, we rely on electric cars and electric cargo bikes, for example, which are charged with green electricity from Stadtwerke Karlsruhe. Of course, we also use reusable boxes for transportation.

Only our warehouse and office cannot be 100 percent CO2-neutral. Our only option here is to compensate via offset projects.

Let’s assume someone orders several groceries from different farm stores from you. What are the next steps until delivery?

Our operational approach is divided into two parts: We have a warehouse in Grünwinkel to provide our customers with all the products that have a shelf life of several weeks or months – such as drinks or canned goods – at short notice. Meat, sausage, fruit and vegetables, on the other hand, are picked up fresh daily from farm stores in the region. In the morning, we collect the orders and then follow a fixed route to collect the food we need from our partners. We then deliver them to the warehouse, sort everything and then deliver the orders.

You have strong partners such as the City of Karlsruhe, IKEA and KIT at your side. How did these collaborations come about and what role did the strong start-up networks in Karlsruhe play?

Cooperation and strong partners are extremely important for start-ups, especially when you are younger and don’t have any contacts yet. As a rule, the collaborations mentioned above came about because we simply approached people and presented our idea to them. Whether it was the city of Karlsruhe, KIT or IKEA – we received various forms of help and support from all of them, without which we would not be where we are today.

Of course, projects such as the PionierGarage at KIT or networks such as the CyberForum also played an important role, as many contacts were only established through them. The exchange with other start-ups and established companies is particularly helpful.

Nevertheless, we think it would be great if even more young people in the region were motivated to take the plunge into self-employment.

What plans do you have for TheLocalOne? Are you planning to implement the concept in other regions as well, or will you continue to focus exclusively on the Karlsruhe region?

Basically, you always need medium to long-term plans, but you also have to look at where you currently stand every day. Of course, we are also thinking about implementing TheLocalOne in cities such as Freiburg, Pforzheim or Stuttgart. However, it is important for us to be able to offer the same excellent quality and selection of food there too. That takes time and attention to detail. That’s why our focus is currently on Karlsruhe. We want to expand the delivery area there to also supply Ettlingen, for example. To do this, we need to grow and expand our product portfolio accordingly.

We are currently working on making our range even more attractive – for example by optimizing our online store, improving our packaging and offering various additional products. We still see a lot of potential here.