We recall the time before the pandemic, where we spent time with friends in restaurants, and invited each other over for a warm meal or barbecue at my place. Since the pandemic, restaurant food is almost exclusively served in plastic boxes that I order home since I am worn out at the end of the day. But I couldn't shake off the strange feeling of having to eat out of those boxes. The overall experience is stripped off any savoury delights and felt akin to a prison dinner.

Take away industry has boomed during the pandemic because we all ended up working from home and being busier than ever. Getting warm, gratifying meals at 0 effort is amazing, right? Well, in reality... take-away offers no opportunity for everyday small talk such as “it is delicious”, “how did you make it?”, or ''what's the recipe for this''. I missed the social interaction in my household over making food and the sense of gratification I used to get after feeding my family with freshly made dishes. 

‍Why we created Krusti

Delivery platforms are doing so well because they have a deep understanding of human nature; along with the fact that when we are angry, convenience is all we care about. One thing we’ve realized from the last few decades is that the pursuit for convenience is endless in modern life. We can live the most sedentary lifestyle human beings could ever afford, without ever leaving our couch; all food and entertainment ready at our fingertips.

With Krusti, we focused on the other side of the spectrum: human experiences. We intentionally tried to design a food experience that brings people together and reminds them how incredible shared experiences can be. And of course, what’s a better way to do that other than cooking and sharing a meal together?

Some customers told us Krusti’s experiences reminded them about childhood memories of cooking with parents or grandparents. Some told us our brunches reminded them of fresh buttery croissants that they tasted during their trip to Paris. The best part is, they didn’t have to walk to the other end of the city and find some fancy restaurants to experience such moments; or didn’t have to spend hours cooking from scratch. It all happened from their kitchen, in less than 15 minutes, with Krusti’s semi-prepared croissants/ brunches. They still added the final touch (egg wash, in the case of croissants) to the meal, so they could happily claim, ‘I made it!’.

What we offer now

We currently have 3 product lines, Krusti lite, Krusti family and Krusti business. Krusti family is our core product line that captures the whole Krusti experience, with a full-box brunch, detailed instructions and a Spotify playlist. It’s designed to be consumed during the weekend with your family or partner. Krusti lite offers single products such as croissants, pain au chocolat, gallette in frozen packs. And Krusti business is for companies who want their employees to have a shared experience while working from home.

We’re constantly experimenting with different kits, and have plans to launch more theme-based kits at the end of this year, such as date night kits, christmas kits. Whatever kit we come up with, taste and experience will always be the key elements in our kits.

Main challenge now: finding the right people!

We’re growing fast, and looking for motivated people who want to create amazing food experiences. We hired a baking and a design trainee recently, and need to hire more people who want to work at the cross-section of food and creativity. We know that the restaurant and food industry got seriously affected by the pandemic, and a lot of young, motivated food enthusiasts are looking for an opportunity to show their passion. We want to team up with these people and show how much positivity food can bring in such a tumultuous time.

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Kiuas Ax'21 questions

Who or what inspired you to be an entrepreneur?‍

My grandfather, who had a restaurant in Paris. Growing up in Paris, I saw first-hand just how much passion you can put into food-making and the experiences around it. I want to share some of that with our customers.

My cofounder Hasan would answer something different though. He might answer Bruce Wayne or Elon Musk as his inspiration, in his millennial way.

If you would get 10 billion euros right now, what would you do?

I would try to do something to make our planet a better place. Sustainability is one of the core values of Krusti, and down the road we want to fix some broken parts of the food industry by showing you can actually build eco-friendly and sustainable food brands without compromising taste.

Who is your favorite superhero?‍

My wife :)

If you could change just one thing in the world, what would it be?‍

Child poverty, something that always bugged me since I was a kid. Not sure how I can do that with my current entrepreneurial journey, but I’m sure down the road the dots will connect!

Main course at dinner, choose: a) Monkey brains with devils sauce and baby vegetables, b) lab grown steak from human cells and béarnaise with crispy fries, c) Organically grown Nepenthes Truncata salad, including tomatoes, sweet blue peppers and glowing mushrooms with a small chance to kill you instantly.

None of the above, I would rather have Krusti brunches. That’s why I created the company;)