Austrian Company Afreshed Acquires German Food Rescue Startup Etepetete

Many fruits and vegetables that fail to meet retail standards are often discarded or destroyed at the farm level before reaching store shelves. Afreshed addresses this issue by redistributing surplus produce through its delivery service, which operates nationwide in Austria and serves customers across Germany, handling thousands of deliveries daily.

The company has reached break-even and continues to scale through a highly digitised model supported by its own logistics infrastructure. Afreshed operates an in-house delivery fleet of nearly 20 vehicles in Austria and uses proprietary software to optimise routing and reduce CO₂ emissions, ensuring efficient last-mile delivery from distribution centres to customers.

He states that through the acquisition of etepetete, Afreshed has gained an established competitor with customers across all German states, particularly in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, and Berlin.

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With this deal, Afreshed is beginning its expansion into the German market. To support this growth, the organic delivery company has also secured a mid–seven-figure funding round.

Founded in 2015, etepetete is a Munich-based startup fighting food waste by rescuing “imperfect” organic fruits and vegetables. The company delivers produce that is often discarded due to cosmetic standards. To date, it has saved over 15 million kg of organic produce through its subscription box model, with numbers growing daily.

“The founding philosophy of both companies is essentially the same: saving food and passing it directly on to consumers, all via an optimised supply chain. In recent years, we have each demonstrated the potential of this vision independently. With the acquisition of etepetete, we are now taking the next logical step in our expansion and joining forces to further strengthen this shared mission,” shared Lukas Forsthuber, co-founder of afreshed.

According to Bernhard Bocksrucker, co-founder of afreshed, etepetete will be continued as a brand: “The acquisition not only gives us immediate market presence, but also local expertise and an existing customer base on which we can build. This acquisition is intended to be the first of further such moves.

Our goal is to become the leading provider of rescued food in German-speaking regions. By bringing both brands together we will further raise awareness of our food rescue boxes.”

About Afreshed

Afreshed, founded in 2021 is an organic food rescue company that delivers surplus fruits and vegetables directly to customers. It aims to reduce food waste by redistributing produce that doesn’t meet retail standards. Through its “Grow Unique” mission, Afreshed celebrates individuality in nature while promoting sustainable, resource-efficient food consumption.