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13 - 16 February 2024 // Nürnberg, Germany
BIOFACH Newsroom
CrunchyFair: the crunchy unicorn
Young innovative companies pavilion
It’s a well-known fact that unicorns don’t exist. It wasn’t enough to stop Judith Barthen and her husband, Michael Huberty-Barthen, setting out to find one though. Joint founders of their company, CrunchyFair, they created a new kind of crunchy muesli that contains no sugars, carbohydrates or fats at all. Mrs Barthen said, “Our aim is to be the proverbial unicorn of the muesli industry as a result of our unsweetened, fat-free and handmade low-carb mueslis.
In 2015, the couple set themselves a very special challenge for health reasons. For six months, they followed an organic and vegetarian diet that contained no sugar or fat and also excluded carbohydrates. Due to the lack of available alternatives, while they were on this diet, they created a crunchy muesli in their kitchen that is vegan, low-carb and organic, and produced without sugar or fat. It would prove to be the foundation stone of their company, which was set up in August 2016.
Explaining the company’s concept, whose aim is to give the freedom to choose flavours back to people, Mr Huberty-Barthen said: “Our crunchy mueslis are naturally low in sugar and carbohydrate, and are also prebiotic and rich in protein and fibre. In addition, the prebiotic properties have a positive effect on intestinal flora and help people to consume a balanced and health-conscious diet.”
The CrunchyFair co-founder said, “Everyone should be able to vary the sweetness of their crunchy muesli themselves.” The idea enables the company to set its sights on a wide target group ranging from muesli fans to consumers who also want a prebiotic diet and to limit their carbohydrate intake. The products are made by hand using sustainable practices in the workshops run for disabled people by the village community Camphill in Steinfurt, which is located in the rural region of Münsterland. CrunchyFair works in cooperation with the organically certified Camphill bakery here.
The crunch specialists will be showcasing three new sorts of muesli at BIOFACH 2018. These varieties have purposely taken a new direction in terms of flavour and contain fruits like mango and wild blackberries as well as spelt and millet. A muesli snack is going to be presented too. Mrs Barthen said: “By launching our new varieties, we’re going a step further and are proving all over again that mueslis and snacks can be made by hand using sustainable practices and without added sugar or fat-binding agents. We firmly believe that we are not the only ones looking for these unicorns on muesli shelves.”
CrunchyFair (www.crunchyfair.de) will be one of the exhibitors in the Pavilion for Young Innovative Companies. This pavilion is being supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and is aimed at newcomers and start-ups based in Germany. 20 companies altogether will be presenting products there in hall 9 at BIOFACH, the World’s Leading Trade Fair for Organic Food (www.biofach.de), which takes place from 14 to 17 February 2018.