Nada proudly tells her story.

She is sitting on a chair in the dining area of ​​the Ark in Northwest City.

The Arche is a care facility for schoolchildren and has been an important institution in the district for ten years.

The team supports children like Nada with their homework, organizes excursions and holiday camps and advises parents on parenting issues.

It's loud because Nada is not alone. Some children have lunch, run between the tables, play tag. But Nada is not bothered by it. The fourteen-year-old has a lot to report and she is proud of what she has achieved. Nada is one of the inventors of a drink that has been sold in Frankfurt supermarkets for a few weeks: the "Arche-Limo". A lemonade that was developed by five twelve to fourteen year old girls and boys.

Everything starts around Easter 2020. The pandemic has Germany firmly under control.

Isolation and distance make life difficult for many.

Particularly hard hit: children.

A Frankfurt entrepreneur approaches the Arche: Ingo Kniepert.

He wants to help.

“I want to do something.

I can drink, ”he says.

The forty-nine year old is a freelance developer of recipes for the beverage industry and a real Frankfurter.

He has been running the Tropextrakt company on Hanauer Landstrasse in Ostend for almost 20 years.

He knows and values ​​the ark.

"This is a great project for the children in the neighborhood."

Why not consider the kids a start-up?

In May 2020 Kniepert will meet with Daniel Schröder, Regional Manager of the Arche Rhein-Main. Together they consider what a collaboration could look like. Then Kniepert came up with the idea: He developed beverages, often with start-up companies. So why not consider the kids a start-up? “That would be a cool thing: They develop a drink with us. With everything that goes with it."

The Arche employees are initially skeptical. However, one thing is clear to everyone: the children should decide. When Julia Hildebrandt, site manager of the Arche in the north-west of the city, told them about the project, a team of five was quickly found who wanted to implement the project. Nada is also there. The Arche and Tropextrakt set up a project group. Because of Corona, the Arche team, the children and the company communicate via Microsoft Teams. "From September 2020 the Limo meeting was on Wednesdays at 3 p.m.," says Hildebrandt. There are important questions to be answered: will it be juice, lemonade, spritzer or iced tea? With or without carbon dioxide? Which flavor? What shape should the bottle have? What should the label look like?

The first decision is made quickly: it should be a carbonated soda. The name will also soon be determined: “Arche-Limo”. It's not so easy with taste. “At first there was a wild brainstorming session,” says Hildebrandt. The young people consider, discuss and exchange arguments. Then they agree: It should be a taste that has not yet existed. So off to the supermarkets. Write down flavors and combinations. "We noticed: there is no such thing as dragon fruit," recalls Hildebrandt. "Then we do it."

Tropextrakt will be informed.

The first delivery will arrive at the end of September 2020.

Two lemonades, one red and one yellow.

Both with dragon fruit as the main ingredient.

Each child on the project team tries and gives their opinion.

When no agreement can initially be reached, the children vote.

The result is four to one.

"Almost one of them got off," reports Hildebrandt.

“The kids had to learn to back off when there was a majority for another idea.” After choosing the lemonade, the young people discuss what can be improved on the favorite drink.