Nadja and Nina, you founded ZUNANI in 2021. How did you come up with the idea?
It all took place on this fantastic summer evening.
We went to a beautiful restaurant in Zurich's old town for dinner. The ambience and the dishes were so fine that Nadja ordered the menu once more to choose another truffle dish. Nina, on the other hand, was interested in another glass of champagne, since her own was gradually running out.
We imagined how the freshly shaved truffle would look on Nadja's plate and were already full of truffle anticipation. At the same time, Nina fantasized about how she could conjure up a touch more luxury in her champagne glass. She imagined that her champagne glass could be refined with two slices of truffle. At first we laughed and enjoyed this extravagant idea. "Truffle champagne, how awesome would that be, please imagine that!".
What was supposed to be a joke suddenly became a real idea though. The thought of a truffle champagne intrigued us!
We immediately asked ourselves whether truffle champagne or something similar already existed and if so, where we could buy it.
We were sure that if we saw truffle champagne anywhere on an aperitif menu, we would be the first to order it as a drink straight away.
So we searched the internet extensively for truffle champagne or comparable products, but to our surprise
we found nothing. We ended our search in vain, but the thought of a truffle champagne just wouldn't let us go. We suddenly realized that these two luxury products, truffles and champagne, had never been combined before. So, in a nutshell, we decided to take matters into our own hands to combine these two luxury products for the first time.
Said and done! We directly ordered 1.5 kg of truffles from Italy. After all, we first had to find out if our luxury fantasy drink would even taste good in real life. Shortly after the truffle delivery, we got started and made our very first truffle sparkling wine creation at home, on our own. We continually perfected our one-of-a-kind luxury sparkling wine and were absolutely thrilled with the results we achieved. It was hard to believe what we were able to taste during this process - it was just delicious!
After many years of passionate product development, we have finally succeeded in presenting a luxury sparkling
wine that has been refined with an extract of real white truffles.
How would you describe your product in a maximum of 3 sentences?
Decadence that sets completely new standards.
A high-end truffle experience.
The luxury in a glass.
What makes ZUNANI exceptional?
Handpicked Italian white truffles are used to refine our luxury sparkling wine. This noble type of truffle is also known under the name Tuber magnatum. An ancient, traditional fermentation process is used to obtain this truffle extract. The special fermentation process enables us to refine the fine sparkling wine with this high-quality
truffle extract, which preserves the full aromatic complexity of the white Piedmont truffle. This means that we completely refrain from using artificial flavors and thus guarantee an incomparable taste experience that
absolutely inspires.
Did it take a long time to come up with the name for your business and what does it mean?
From the beginning we have been looking for a name that represents an unmistakable strength and at the same time works internationally. It was also important to us that the brand sounded like it had always been around. For several days we considered different brand names, but none of them felt right. When we created the name ZUNANI for the first time after about two weeks, we both knew
immediately that it would be this name. The fantasy name ZUNANI is made up of three abbreviations. On the one hand from Zurich, where the idea was born, and on the other hand from the two initials of the names Nadja and Nina. These abbreviations are not only found in the word mark, but are also present in the figurative mark. If you turn the ZZ logo to the side, you can see the initials of us founders.
What has been your biggest challenge as a founder so far and what advice would you give to future founders?
It was definitely a challenge to first clarify everything
related to food law and to face all the madness of the bureaucracy. The greatest challenge, however, was to always remain true to our own vision and to implement it with unshakable willpower. Of course there was a course correction here and there, which was certainly necessary, because not everything you do is always right. But the bottom line is that you should simply ignore some opinions and never allow yourself to be diverted from your own
path. This is exactly what we would also advise future founders. In addition, you should always remain flexible, because as an entrepreneur, no day is like the other!
Where is the journey with ZUNANI headed in the next 3 years, what visions do you have for the future?
As a first mover on the world market, we would like to seize the opportunity to establish our business worldwide as a Swiss luxury and truffle beverage line. That's why our
priority now is to be able to supply our customers all over the world. Above all, this includes the expansion of our online shop and the expansion of our B2B sales channels. With ZUNANI, we not only want to sell a luxury product, but also an attitude towards life. In the long term, a luxurious lifestyle and a strong image should be created around the brand in order to underline the special moments in life. Because white truffles in particular are considered the luxury product in the world of indulgence.
In the Lifestyle Collection we report on beautiful destinations. Do you have one or more destinations that you would recommend to our readers and what did you particularly like about this country/countries?
Of course there are many beautiful destinations in this world. If we had to choose one destination together, it would be Kampen on the island of Sylt. A few years ago we vacationed there together and then realized that we are both very interested in business. That's why this destination connected us so much and is still of particular importance
to us today. In addition, the nature and especially the impressive dune landscape on Sylt is beautiful and absolutely unique. Perhaps soon there will be ZUNANI on this beautiful and well-known luxury island.
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