Anyone who witnessed Matthias Steiner’s Olympic victory will still have the images in their minds today: the primal scream of the powerhouse after the decisive weightlifting attempt – the emotional award ceremony with the gold medal in one hand and the photo of his wife, who had recently died in an accident, in the other . This piece of sports history was 16 years ago.
Today the 41-year-old is an entrepreneur and sells low-carb products under the “Steiner’s” brand. The best testimonial is the ex-athlete himself, who once weighed 150 kilos. According to Steiner, he lost 45 kilos with the prototypes of his products because he wanted to “get back to a normal body,” as he did in the founder’s show “The Cave of the Lions” reports. There, the slimmer Steiner, together with his current wife and business partner Inge, looked for an investor for his low-carbohydrate breads, rolls, pasta and cakes.
With success: Both Nils Glagau and Ralf Dümmel wanted to join “Steiner’s” with 300,000 euros, and the founding couple decided on a deal with Glagau on the show. This also came about afterwards, as both sides confirmed to star. “Just as he fought for the gold medal at the Olympic Games, he is doing it together with Inge for his company today,” says investor Glagau. “The two of them absolutely convinced me with their pitch and their products.” And Inge Steiner also raves about the collaboration: “Nils is a cool guy, he supports us with advice and support and helps us to give full throttle.”
With the support of the prominent investor and the attention of the show behind them, the Steiners now want to really get started. Starting next Monday, the products that have so far been sold mainly in our own online shop will be offered as promotional items at Kaufland, dm and Globus.
It is a kind of second starting signal for the Steiners’ baked goods company, which was struggling with economic problems before appearing on the show, as Inge Steiner reveals in an interview with stern. Although the Steiners have already made a name for themselves in the field of healthy eating with advice books (“The Steiner Principle”), business with low-carb products got off to a slow start. Founded in 2020, the company initially suffered from the Corona crisis, then from increased raw material costs. The Steiners took out a loan and were in the red.
The situation has now improved, says Inge Steiner. Larger quantities should enable more attractive prices, and the packaging of the products was revised as part of a redesign. The Steiners, who live in Austria, do not produce the baked goods themselves, but instead commission professional production partners to produce them according to their recipes.
In the future, “Steiner’s” products should establish themselves as permanently as possible in stationary stores. From the Steiners’ point of view, avoiding excessive carbohydrates in favor of more fiber, healthy fats and proteins is not only worthwhile for a former weightlifter. “We are not concerned with a low-carb diet, but rather with a needs-based diet for everyone,” says Inge Steiner. And what’s more, she says, the products are also very tasty.
Transparency note: Like the channel Vox, the star belongs to RTL Deutschland
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