Blün

What Blün does

Blün GmbH operates Vienna's first commercial aquaponics facility, located in the city's 22nd district. The business runs a closed-loop system in which nutrient-rich water from fish tanks — primarily Wiener Wels (catfish) farmed at the site at a stated scale of around 5.5 tonnes per year — is used to fertilize hydroponic vegetable cultivation, with the cleaned water returning to the fish. The company was founded by four farmers (Michael Berlin, Bernhard Zehetbauer, Stefan Bauer, and Gregor Hoffmann), with Stefan Bauer and Lukas Gansterer, who joined as a second managing director in January 2023, currently leading the business. Output covers fresh catfish, smoked fish products, fresh vegetables, and a growing range of value-added specialty items including Wiener Ketchup, Fischgarum, Leberkäse, and a gin that won a Destillata gold medal in 2024.

The commercial model is premium-positioned across multiple channels. Fresh fish is sold as fillet at €35/kg and as smoked Black Label at €59.50/kg; gin is sold at €26–€51 per bottle. Customers are reached through the on-site Hofladen farm store, a Naschmarkt retail stand opened in November 2025, the company's own e-commerce site with Click & Collect, a subscription-based Blün Box, an online delivery partnership with gurkerl.at established in August 2022, a wholesale partnership with Jobi for Styrian trout, and listings in Austrian retail banners including Spar Gourmet, Interspar, and Billa. On the B2B side, Blün supplies more than 50 restaurants and hotels in Vienna.

Strategically, Blün has evolved from a single-product urban farm into a diversified premium food brand, using its closed-loop aquaponics platform as both an operating system and a sustainability narrative. The acquisition of a second managing director in 2023 and the channel and product expansions in 2022–2025 indicate a deliberate shift from pilot-scale farming toward repeatable retail and wholesale growth, with margin increasingly captured in processed and branded SKUs rather than raw fish and vegetables.

Name

Blün

Legal name

Blün GmbH

Website

https://bluen.at

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Blün GmbH operates Vienna's first commercial aquaponics facility, combining Wiener Wels catfish farming with hydroponic vegetable cultivation in a closed-loop system. It sells premium fresh fish, vegetables, gin, and specialty foods to Viennese consumers, restaurants, hotels, and Austrian retail chains.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Aquaponics Food Production

NAICS

Finfish Farming and Fish Hatcheries (112511), Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging (3117), Aquaculture (11251)

SIC

Prepared Fresh Or Frozen Fish & Seafoods (2092), Beverages (2080), Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Aquaponics (Integrated Fish & Plant Production) (AFAEAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Finfish Farming (e.g., salmon, tilapia, catfish) (AFAEAAAA), Finfish Processing (Filleting, Portioning, Trimming) (AFANADAB), Aquaculture Harvest, Processing & Packing (Farmed Finfish/Shellfish; On-Farm Plants) (AFANADAL)

Keywords

• Aquaponics food production
• Fresh fish farming
• Urban agriculture
• Local food distribution
• Specialty food products

Headquarters

HQ city

Breitenfurt Bei Wien

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Fresh Fish Sales: Direct sales of Wiener Wels (catfish) fillets in various preparations: fresh, graved (cured), smoked, and Black Label smoked. Also partner trout products (Jobi). Annual production approximately 5.5 tonnes wels.
2. Fresh Vegetable Sales: Aquaponically grown vegetables and herbs sold through Hofladen, online shop, and gurkerl.at delivery. Also partner vegetables from regional farmers.
3. Gin and Spirits: Value-added products including Blün Gurken Gin (350ml, 700ml) and Blün London Dry Gin (350ml, 700ml). Gold medal winner at Destillata 2024.
4. Specialty Products: Wiener Fischgarum (fish sauce), Blün Ketchup (from Viennese tomatoes), Wiener Wels Leberkäse (processed by Fleischerei Neumayer), prepared fish products.
5. Blün Box Subscriptions: Pre-assembled boxes for convenient home delivery of fish and vegetable combinations.
6. B2B Wholesale to Gastronomy: Supply contracts with restaurants, hotels, and cafes throughout Vienna. Product sold through partner retailers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Blün operates Vienna's first commercial aquaponics facility in the 22nd district, combining closed-loop fish farming (Wiener Wels African catfish) with hydroponic vegetable and herb cultivation. Fish waste fertilizes the plants, water circulates continuously, and the integrated farm produces ultra-fresh fish, vegetables, gin distilled from aquaponically grown cucumbers, and ketchup made from surplus Viennese tomatoes, sold directly to consumers and through B2B channels to Vienna's gastronomy and specialty retail.

Product overview

Blün operates Vienna's first commercial aquaponics facility in the 22nd district, producing fish and vegetables in a closed-loop system. The core product line centers on Wiener Wels (Vienna catfish, Clarias gariepinus) sold as fresh, graved, and smoked fillets, leberkäse, and fish garum. Processed products include Blün Gin (cucumber and London Dry varieties, both distilled from aquaponically grown cucumbers and gold medal-winning at Destillata 2024) and Wiener Ketchup made from surplus Viennese tomatoes. The product portfolio extends via partner products including Styrian trout, char, and salmon trout, and specialty items like the Blün Kochfibel cookbook. Products are sold through the Blün Box subscription boxes, the farm shop, online via gurkerl.at, and at the Naschmarkt stand.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• gurkerl.atcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 August 2022Online grocery delivery partnership. Gurkerl.at delivers Blün products within 3 hours of order, same-day with 1-hour delivery windows. Delivery is CO2-neutral via electric vehicles. Partnership extends Blün's reach to Baden, Mödling, Gerasdorf, Langenzersdorf, Ebreichsdorf and surrounding areas. Fresh fish and vegetables collected in morning and delivered harvest-fresh.
• Familie Tösch (Jobi)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStyrian fish farmers producing Jobi brand trout and char products. Fish raised in natural ponds at foot of Stuhleck mountain in Rettenegg, using cold oxygen-rich mountain water. Products include Seeforelle and Bachsaibling processed by hand using traditional recipes. Family shares Blün's values of quality, freshness, regionality, and sustainability. 129km distance to Vienna.
• Fleischerei NeumayerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Vienna butcher that produces Blün's Wiener Wels Leberkäse (catfish meat loaf) from fresh Blün catfish fillets. Partnership adds value-added processed product to Blün's range.
• Weingut WieningerminorGTM or Marketing PartnerViennese winery whose wines are paired with Blün products in the 'Blün 5 Elemente Küche' cookbook by Nina Mandl. Schorschi Grohs recommends wines to complement the seasonal fish and vegetable recipes.
• Stadternte WienminorOthersUrban farming initiative in Vienna with shared sustainability and local production goals. Listed among Blün's certifications and associations.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Salmon Evolution: Norwegian land-based salmon-farming company using hybrid flow-through systems — comparable closed-environment aquaculture approach at larger scale.
• Plenty: US vertical-farming operator focused on leafy greens — overlapping sustainability and premium-retail narrative, though without the integrated aquaculture component.
• Atlantic Sapphire: Land-based salmon producer using closed indoor systems — a broader-scale analogue of Blün's controlled-environment fish farming with similar sustainability positioning.
• AeroFarms: US indoor vertical-farming company selling premium leafy greens through retail and B2B — adjacent controlled-environment-agriculture player targeting similar conscious urban consumers.

Direct peers

• SweetWater Organics: Early commercial aquaponics operator in the US combining tilapia and aquaponic produce — comparable integrated fish-and-vegetable value chain.
• Superior Fresh: US commercial-scale aquaponics producer combining land-based salmon farming with leafy greens — directly comparable closed-loop species-plus-plant model.
• UrbanFarmers AG: Swiss/Dutch urban aquaponics venture operating rooftop and indoor fish-plus-vegetable systems for city restaurants and retailers — directly comparable business model and customer base.
• ECF Farmsystems: Berlin-based urban aquaponics operator combining fish farming with greenhouse vegetable production for the German premium market — the closest conceptual analogue to Blün's closed-loop Vienna facility.

Regional players

• Forellenzucht Lechner: Established Austrian family-run trout and char farm — comparable Austrian freshwater fish producer targeting similar premium gastronomy and retail accounts.
• Jobi (Familie Tösch): Styrian family-run fish farm raising trout, char and salmon trout in mountain ponds and already distributed through Blün — comparable Austrian sustainable freshwater fish producer in a different region.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/bluen_gmbh
• Facebookfacebook.com/bluenfoods

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 Blün