Ralf Sander Podcast Transcript
Ralf Sander joins host Brian Thomas on The Digital Executive Podcast.
Welcome to Coruzant Technologies, home of The Digital Executive Podcast.
Brian Thomas: Welcome to The Digital Executive. Today’s guest is Ralf Sander. Ralf Sander is the founder and Chief Gelato Officer of Gimme Gelato. Ralf Sander is a technology driven gelato pioneer with a background in brewing and extensive experience in the food industry. He founded Gimme Gelato in 2018, combining artisanal craftsmanship and rich ingredients with cutting edge technology.
Under Sander’s leadership, Gimme Gelato’s mobile vans offer zero waste, contactless, cashless transactions, and remote operation, demonstrating his commitment to innovation and sustainability. As Chief Gelato Officer, Sander is redefining culinary norms and shaping the future of gastronomy with every scoop.
Well, good afternoon, Ralf. Welcome to the show!
Ralf Sander: Thank you for having me. Welcome!
Brian Thomas: Absolutely. Ralf. I appreciate you jumping on a podcast hailing all the way out of Germany or Deutschland. We appreciate that. Sometimes it’s hard to traverse the globe, but again, really do appreciate it. And we’re going to jump right into your first question.
Ralf, with your fascinating background in brewing and the food industry, what inspired you to pivot and launch Gimme Gelato in 2018? Can you share the story behind your decision to merge traditional gelato making with advanced technology?
Ralf Sander: Yeah, that’s a very good question. Yeah, I’m, I’m born in Frankfurt, born and raised in Frankfurt Main, very well-known for the big air base. Yeah. And Frankfurt is very well known for two big breweries and also apple wine is a typical Frankfurt or product from, from Frankfurt or region Hessen. And I also was fascinated by the Italian ice cream and the American ice cream.
And so, I started apprenticeship as a Brewer and Monster with another bagger group, which is, I think the biggest brewery in, in Germany. And after I finished my apprenticeship as a Brewer and Monster, I moved to Berlin and studied brewing technology. And then I went to Japan and worked or I supported to launch the microbrewery in Japan and in Hokkaido.
And after I, I came back to Germany, I, I did a trainee program in marketing and sales. And so, I worked. I would say the last 20 or nearly 30 years in the food industry and I started in, in the brewery and then I moved to Nestle, which is obviously the biggest food company in the world.
And then to Coca Cola. And after, yeah, I would say 25, 30 years in the food industry, I got the chance to leave the company and take a sabbatical and yeah, then I moved to my little caravan on a lake and decided what I want to do in, in my future. And then I started just with a, with a weekend class how to make gelato, because that was a thing where I wasn’t very into.
And I had a favorite gelateria here in my hometown in Berlin in Kreuzberg, and I which was about roughly 2 kilometers from my apartment and there were a couple of other gelaterias very nearby, but I went especially to this gelateria because I really liked the ice cream there. And then I did a weekend class, as I said how to make gelato.
So, we did one day classical gelato and one, one day we did sorbetto. And sorbetto is just fresh roots, water, and sugar blended, and then put it in the, in the gelato machine. And I was so super excited about the taste because it tasted like there’s a liter of cream in it. But as I said, it was only three ingredients.
So, it was vegan lactose free and gluten free and best taste ever. So, I thought if it’s so easy to make good gelato, if you only need. good ingredients and a good gelato machine, then it’s I want to dive a little bit deeper into this field. Yeah. And then I did some research with some other gelaterias and gelato chefs and talked to them.
And then finally, I went to Bologna to the gelato university and did some classes, learned how to balance gelato and sorbetto and vegan, vegan ice cream. And yeah, after that, I went to Estonia to a little gelateria where I get all my, my knowledge my how to say or like, it was like an internship.
Yeah. And I really learned. Hands on how, how to make gelato based on, on this theoretical experience in, in Italy. And last but not least, I did like an official class from Handwerk Kammer. As a start, I speak with the spy the eyes has. And yeah, then I developed a couple of brands. Some concepts and yeah, finally in 2018 I started my, my own business together with my, my business partner. And launched Gimme gelato.
Brian Thomas: Thank you for the backstory. Really do appreciate that, Ralf. It’s interesting how you find something that kind of fuels your passion, especially after, after you’ve been doing some stuff over the years. I stress you, maybe you get bored of the job, but you go into something that you really love and I love the story there.
So, Ralf, how do you ensure that the high-tech aspect of gimme gelato enhances rather than detracts from the customer experience, especially when it comes to something as traditional and sensory as gelato? Yeah, that’s, that’s also a good question. The,
Ralf Sander: the, you know, the product has to be always the hero as well as the experience for our guests.
So, we really focus on, on the best product quality and all the technologies they have to run in the background and they have to reduce complexity and yeah, have to add value to the guest experience. As well, as for the team, we try to highlight the traditional way of producing gelato.
So, we have a classy production. Our guests can watch from the shop as well as from the street. How our team in the gelato lab is doing or is producing gelato. So, we mix or we blend our products with a, with a blender that you really can see and all the technology that we use is built in in this gelato machine and of course, we, we use a lot of other technologies like AI for personal planning, for example, but the customer or the guests will never see this.
Brian Thomas: Thank you and I like how you do leverage some of this emerging tech. To help facilitate some of the mundane and repetitive tasks at the end of the day, you have a great product, but you also want to make that experience pleasant and efficient as possible. So, I appreciate the share and Ralf looking ahead.
How do you see technology continuing to evolve in the food industry? And what role do you envision image a lot of playing in shaping the future of gastronomy? So, technology will evolve.
Ralf Sander: The food industry in, in all parts, starting from, from the back office. Yeah. So, a lot of processes will be automized, which if you see where we’re coming from, yeah, from.
Telefox, whatever, yeah. In Germany. I heard that there are still some companies. Using tax machines. Yeah. And as I, as I mentioned earlier nowadays, we do everything yeah, AI based. Yeah. So, our personal planning tool, for example, looks. A front in front of the house, so it. Looks at the weather forecast, it looks as on the turnover from the previous years.
Integrates public holidays or bank holidays, and then also looks to the inside. So, back of the house about the competences from the team. So, which team member has the best fit for the shift that is expected and then makes a proposal, which has like. I would say 90, 95 percent accuracy. So, it’s just fantastic because before you need, like, a couple of hours to do research and look how many hours has this employee left or is he the right man for the.
For the position, yeah, but the, the AI already generates a proposal, which, as I said, is 90, 95 percent perfect. So, you just have to fine tune. Of course, the, the, the people or the human being is always in in charge of the whole setup of the AI based technologies. And yeah, with gimme gelato, we focus always on the best taste.
So, as I said, the product is the hero, it’s always in the center of the of the whole thing. And we try to make a gimme gelato available on arm’s length in, in all over Germany. That’s the plan for the next couple of years. So, we want to. Deliver our products to the channel to cafes, restaurants, hotels, but also activate our mobile solutions.
For example. In leisure parks in Zeus or in high frequency areas.
Brian Thomas: Thank you so much. I appreciate that. Again, I know your, your passion is food, but you have explored into the technology realm. And I like to hear that there are applications out there that are helping to make you find better employees, people, better managers to run your business.
Your operation. So, I love the story on that. And Ralf, the last question of the day, what advice would you offer to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to innovate within the food industry? Are there particular trends or technologies they should be paying attention to?
Ralf Sander: Absolutely. For, for aspiring entrepreneurs venturing into food industry.
My advice would be to focus on sustainability, on digitalization, and of course always on the best taste. And I forgot to mention at the previous question that we also use technologies for our H-A-C-C-P which is our hygiene concept. Yeah. So, we have sensors in our freezers, for example.
They control and measure and communicate the temperatures. For example, we also check our incoming goods with digital tools. So, so we really, really focus. On all digital solutions that reduces complexity in our in our system. And. As, you know, the personal situation is very yeah, very limited at the moment in in all markets worldwide.
So, it’s really hard to find employees. And so, we really try to use all technologies to yeah, reduce the complexity for, for our team that we really can focus on the communication with our partners as well as on
Brian Thomas: good products. Thank you. I appreciate that again. You highlighted a couple of technologies that you’re leveraging today, but it is a tough business.
You know, you and I were talking about how you work 14-hour days, and we’ve got to scale that back. And the way we do that is learn how to improve the process and throw in a little bit of technology to make it more efficient. So, I appreciate everything that you’ve shared with us today, Ralf. And Ralf, it was such a pleasure having you on today, and I look forward to speaking with you real soon.
Ralf Sander: Thank you very much. It was a pleasure that you had me.
Brian Thomas: Bye for now.
Ralf Sander Podcast Transcript. Listen to the audio on the guest’s podcast page.
