Oetker Group acquires drinks delivery startup flaschenpost for €1B

German startup flashenpost (or “message in a bottle”) offering on-demand beverage delivery was acquired by food giant Oetker Group for €1 billion, reports Deutsche Startups. But as the Munich-based inside.beer media claims, this deal has not been officially confirmed yet and the price is rather lower than reported – €800 million. 

Münster-based startup flashenpost was founded in 2016. It is an e-commerce company that provides free of charge contactless drinks delivery service across 23 German cities. Placed via the app, the orders can be placed at the customers’ door within 120 minutes, the company declares. According to the company’s data, it delivers over 60,000 crates per day as of June 2020.

To date, flashenpost employs around 7,000 people, including drivers and warehouse workers, and has created its own water and beer brands, which count for 15% of sales, writes EU-Startups.  In October 2020 it recorded around €27 million in sales alone, which, extrapolated over12 months, is over €320 million. 

Previously, Oetker Group launched its own version of the service called Durstexpress, which will become a part of the original fast-growing flashenpost under the new structure. With this new purchase, the Group will have 30 hubs in 25 cities and be provided with national distribution for its service straight away.