A few years ago, a Swiss baby food manufacturer made a name for itself through a dispute with Hipp. Now the financing failed. Yamo throws in the towel.
Zurich – No food is as heavily regulated as baby food. New players have a difficult time on the market. Yamo, a Swiss start-up, made a name for itself with pithy advertising slogans and new tactics. However, Yamo gained even greater fame through a legal dispute with the industry heavyweight Hipp. Yamo won some battles back then, but not the war. The start-up ran out of money.
Bankruptcy of baby food start-up: Yamo is running out of financing
Yamo had existed since 2016. Founded by three young men in Lucerne, the aim was to outdo the competition with healthy organic food. Most manufacturers pasteurize their baby food to preserve it, but Yamo used a different process. Instead of heating, cold pressing took place here, which is why Yamo's porridges ended up in the refrigerator shelf. According to Yamo, this means that the vitamins, flavors and colors of the processed fruits and vegetables are better preserved.
Unfortunately that wasn't enough. “The path to profitability was harder than expected,” wrote Tobias Gunzenhauser, co-founder and CEO of Yamo, in a post on the social network LinkedIn on Thursday evening (April 11). “Despite our efforts, we were unable to obtain the necessary funding to continue our journey.”
David versus Goliath – Yamo takes on Hipp
It was only in the summer of 2018 that Yamo ventured to Germany and also offered its products here. Shortly afterwards, a lengthy legal dispute with the industry titan Hipp began - some advertising statements made by Yamo, distributed via Instagram, had offended Hipp. “Nobody knew us back then,” the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
quoted Luca Michas, one of the three founders, as saying. “The warning came before we could even develop in Germany.”
For example, Yamo had written: “If you try conventional baby food, you'll know why babies always spit it out.” In another posting, the start-up took a dig at “brownish” jars from baby food manufacturers. Hipp felt attacked and began a legal dispute, in the course of which Hipp issued six warnings and two lawsuits against Yamo. “You can get the idea that you want to prevent developments on the market here,” said Michas. Hipp, on the other hand, spoke of “unfair comparisons” and “inaccurate allegations”.
In the end, Hipp also challenged Yamo's special pressing process in court. It's not safe enough. In 2021, Yamo was able to prevail before the Hamburg regional court and caused Hipp a PR setback. However, this did not convince investors in the long term. According to the Swiss
start-up ticker,
the company was unable to secure the financing it needed. Yamo announced this in an email to customers. Retailers will continue to offer Yamo products for as long as the offer lasts, but the existing subscriptions will be canceled and no more money will be deducted.
A wave of bankruptcies is rolling over Germany
In Germany too, more and more companies are currently having to give up. The candy manufacturer Hussel recently announced its bankruptcy, there is even a threat of massive job cuts in housing construction and the heating company Windhager Zentralheiz GmbH has been insolvent since March. Increased interest rates, high energy prices and the shortage of skilled workers are putting strain on German companies.
This recently went so far that the number of company bankruptcies reached a peak in March. This emerged from an analysis by the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH). At least 11,000 jobs are said to be affected.