What Raupe Immersatt does

Raupe Immersatt is a registered nonprofit association (Raupe Immersatt e.V.) operating Germany's first foodsharing café, located at Johannesstraße 97 in Stuttgart-West, Baden-Württemberg. Founded in 2017 by five individuals and opened to the public in June 2019 after a €34,000 StartNext crowdfunding campaign, the organization runs a hybrid venue combining an in-café Fairteiler (foodsharing station) where rescued surplus food from bakeries, supermarkets, and restaurants is made available to visitors free of charge or by voluntary contribution, a beverage counter operating on a pay-what-you-want (Fairteilungs) model, and a cultural programming calendar of schnippeldisko events, workshops, concerts, and theater performances. Rescued food is inspected by trained staff against hygiene guidelines co-developed with a Lebensmittelchemiker (food chemist), stored in refrigerated facilities, and redistributed through the café to the local Stuttgart community.

The business is financed through a blend of beverage sales, individual donations (via GLS Bank, twingle, and betterplace.org), recurring Fördermitgliedschaften (supporting memberships), Mietpatenschaften (rent sponsorships), institutional grants from the City of Stuttgart covering personnel costs, and project funding from the Deutsche Postcode Lotterie for educational workshops. As of 2024 the organization employs 13 staff supported by a broader volunteer base recruited through the foodsharing.de network; 600 Stuttgart citizens are documented as actively engaged in food rescue activities. The café has rescued over 50 tonnes of food since opening, was nominated for the federal 'Zu gut für die Tonne' prize in 2018, and was visited by Federal Minister Cem Özdemir in 2024.

Raupe Immersatt is co-founder of the national Foodsharing-Café-Netzwerk, a member of the Bündnis Lebensmittelrettung policy coalition, and a participant in the N!-Netzwerk Baden-Württemberg and RENN.süd sustainability platforms. Distribution is exclusively physical through the single Stuttgart-West storefront (cash only, six-day operating schedule); there is no e-commerce channel for products, and online presence functions primarily for donations, rent sponsorship signups, and event communications. The organization's strategic positioning is as a category-defining first mover and replicable model rather than a scaling multi-site operator.

Name

Raupe Immersatt

Legal name

Raupe Immersatt e.V.

Website

https://raupeimmersatt.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Raupe Immersatt is a Stuttgart-based nonprofit association operating Germany's first foodsharing café, where surplus food rescued from local businesses is redistributed to the public free of charge alongside pay-what-you-want beverages and cultural events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Food Rescue Café

NAICS

Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)

akta.pro primary industry

Independent Neighborhood Cafes (THAFADAC)

Keywords

• Food waste reduction
• Foodsharing cafe
• Surplus food rescue
• Community cafe
• Sustainability education

Headquarters

HQ city

Stuttgart

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Beverage Sales: Sale of consciously selected drinks (fair, organic beverages) at the café counter. Pricing follows a fairteilungs model where customers pay what they feel the drink is worth.
2. Foodsharing Food Redistribution: Rescued surplus food from partner businesses is made available to café visitors, often free or by voluntary contribution. Revenue is not the primary driver — social impact is.
3. Donations and Sponsorship: Donations accepted via bank transfer (GLS Bank), online via twingle, and rent sponsorships (Mietpatenschaften). The organization is recognized as non-profit (gemeinnützig) by Finanzamt Stuttgart.
4. Event and Workshop Revenue: Cultural events, concerts, theater performances, and educational workshops held at the café, with voluntary contribution-based entry fees supporting artists, speakers, and the non-profit mission.
5. Membership/Fördermitgliedschaften: Supporting memberships provide recurring financial support to the association, with donation receipts available for tax purposes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Raupe Immersatt operates Germany's first foodsharing café in Stuttgart-West, running a physical café where rescued surplus food from local businesses is redistributed to the public through an in-café Fairteiler (food sharing station), alongside a pay-what-you-want beverage service and cultural/educational programming. The café combines food rescue, community gathering, and food-waste education in a single venue, financed through beverage sales, donations, memberships, and grants.

Product overview

Raupe Immersatt operates as a non-profit foodsharing café in Stuttgart, Germany. The core offering is a unified café experience combining food sharing stations (Fairteiler), beverage service, and cultural events. The café serves as both a community gathering space and an educational center, with additional support mechanisms including donations and rent sponsorships to sustain operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Foodsharing Café Germany's first foodsharing café at Johannesstraße 97, Stuttgart-West, offering rescued food and beverages in a welcoming community setting with the Fairteiler concept. Open Wed-Fri & Mon 10:00-23:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-19:00, closed Tuesdays; cash only.
• Fairteiler (Food Sharing Station) An in-café food-sharing station where rescued surplus food from local businesses is collected via foodsharing.de volunteers, individually inspected by trained staff against proprietary hygiene guidelines, and redistributed to the public free or by voluntary contribution.
• Beverages (Getränke) A conscious selection of fair, organic beverages served at the café counter following a Fairteilungs (pay-what-you-want) pricing model where customers pay what they feel the drink is worth.
• Events (Veranstaltungen) Cultural events, concerts, theater performances, schnippeldisko cooking events, and community gatherings hosted at the café space, with voluntary contribution-based entry fees supporting artists, speakers, and the non-profit mission.
• Education & Workshops (Bildung & Workshops) Educational workshops and programs promoting food waste awareness, sustainable food appreciation (Lebensmittelwertschätzung), and foodsharing knowledge, including educational sessions for school classes via Volkshochschule Stuttgart.
• Donations (Spende) Donation options supporting the non-profit association's educational and cultural work, processed via GLS Bank direct transfer, online donations via twingle, and betterplace.org. Tax-deductible donation receipts are available.
• Rent Sponsorship (Mietpatenschaft) Monthly sponsorship program enabling supporters to contribute to the café's operational costs and rent, formalized by agreement at Werderstraße 43, 70190 Stuttgart.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 50 tonnes of food rescued since opening
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• foodsharing.decoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRaupe Immersatt is an integral part of the foodsharing.de ecosystem in Stuttgart. The organization receives surplus food from foodsharing volunteer pick-ups at partner businesses and redistributes it via its café Fairteiler. Volunteers are recruited at the café through Neulingstreffen (newcomer meetings).
• Foodsharing-Café-NetzwerkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founded by Raupe Immersatt, this national platform enables exchange between foodsharing cafés across Germany. It connects existing café operators with founding newcomers and maps foodsharing café locations nationwide.
• Bündnis LebensmittelrettungcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRaupe Immersatt participates in this nationwide coalition working to put food waste reduction on the political agenda. The alliance represents a strong collective voice for food appreciation policy.
• N!-Netzwerk (Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie Baden-Württemberg)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPart of the state sustainability network initiated by Baden-Württemberg's Nachhaltigkeitsstrategie. The N!-network makes sustainability engagement visible and connects projects annually at the N!-Tag events.
• RENN.süd — Werkzeugkasten des WandelsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRaupe Immersatt is featured in the 'Werkzeugkasten des Wandels' (Toolbox for Change) portal by RENN.süd, which showcases sustainability initiatives for replication by civil society, administrations, and other actors in the region.
• Social Impact Lab StuttgartminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRaupe Immersatt participated in Social Impact Lab Stuttgart events and startup support programs during its founding phase.
• Volkshochschule StuttgartminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRaupe Immersatt participates in Aktionstage Lebensmittel (food waste action days) organized by VHS Stuttgart, delivering schnippeldisko cooking events and educational sessions for school classes.
• Social Entrepreneurship BW / Wizemann SpaceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEarly-stage support for Raupe Immersatt's founding, including participation in startup weekend and kick-off events at the Wizemann co-working space.
• GLS BankminorOthersGLS Bank is Raupe Immersatt's banking partner, handling all donation and sponsorship account transactions. Bank details are listed on the website for direct transfers.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• GLS Bank: Ethical/values-driven bank that handles all donation account transactions for Raupe Immersatt. Not a peer but adjacent ecosystem participant — useful for understanding the values-aligned funding infrastructure that supports Raupe's operations.
• Volkshochschule Stuttgart: Partner organization that delivers educational programming with Raupe on food waste. Not a competitor but a strategically adjacent institution — relevant as a comparable for the public-sector-funded sustainability education function Raupe performs in Stuttgart.

Direct peers

• Foodsharing Café Netzwerk: National network of foodsharing cafés co-founded by Raupe Immersatt. Member cafés operate the same hybrid café + Fairteiler + community education model, making them the closest direct peers — though most are smaller and earlier-stage than Raupe.
• SirPlus: Berlin-based social enterprise that rescues surplus food and sells it through outlets and online. Comparable in mission (food waste reduction) and customer base (sustainability-conscious consumers), though SirPlus operates a commercial retail model rather than Raupe's donation-based café format.
• foodsharing.de: National volunteer-driven food rescue network that Raupe Immersatt is organizationally embedded within. foodsharing.de coordinates surplus food pick-ups from businesses via volunteers, which Raupe then redistributes through its Fairteiler — making them operational partners in the same rescued-food value chain.

Broad incumbents

• Die Tafeln (Bundesverband Deutsche Tafel e.V.): Germany's largest food rescue and redistribution network, operating hundreds of food banks nationwide. Addresses the same food waste and food access problem as Raupe but at much larger scale and with a traditional food-bank distribution model rather than a café/community format.
• Too Good To Go: Europe's leading marketplace for surplus food from restaurants and retailers. Addresses the same food waste problem and competes for the same corporate donor businesses, but operates as a scaled tech platform rather than a local community café.

Emerging players

• ResQ Club: Nordic-origin surplus food marketplace with German operations connecting restaurants to consumers via discounted meal deals. Competes indirectly with Raupe by capturing donor-business surplus before it reaches the foodsharing volunteer channel.
• Etepetete: German social enterprise that rescues 'ugly' organic produce and sells it as subscription vegetable boxes. Shares the surplus-food ethos but operates a direct-to-consumer organic produce model rather than Raupe's community café and food-redistribution format.

Regional players

• Restlos e.V. Smaller food rescue charity distributing surplus meals to people in need. Overlaps with Raupe's mission and beneficiary segments but operates in a different city and uses a direct-meal-distribution model without the café, beverage, or cultural programming layer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/foodsharingcafe
• Instagraminstagram.com/raupe.immersatt
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/raupe-immersatt

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Raupe Immersatt