Take a sparkling white wine, mix it with mineral water - and you get a wine spritzer.

It may come as a surprise that a start-up can be built on this classic, but the trained winemaker Dominic Zetzsche and his partner, the marketing specialist Annik Milstein, tried it in 2016 and founded the Schorlefranz company in Giessen.

They were in line with the trend and were initially one of the beverage manufacturers that was growing every day, but their products can now be found on supermarket shelves and on beverage menus throughout Germany and Austria.

The idea of ​​turning wine spritzer into a business model came to Zetzsche when he was still helping out at wine festivals.

"Everyone wanted a different mix," some more water, others less.

Instead, to have a mix that appeals to a majority of customers, that's it, thought Zetzsche.

However, it was clear to the couple that if the drink is not innovative, "then we have to make the design really cool," says Zetzsche.

People should know what's in it, so Schorle was a must when choosing a name.

Frippery eventually became Franz, and later also Franzi for the rosé spritzer.

A school friend of Milstein's helped with the logo.

Cornelius Uerlichs created a guy with a bobble hat and a sparkling full beard who has graced many Schorlefranz bottles ever since.

"However, we couldn't pay Cornelius at all," says Milstein.

"Okay, then I'll join you," countered Uerlichs.

Since then they have been a team of three in management.

Contracts with five wineries from Rheinhessen, Franconia and the Palatinate

Their target audience, as the founders had expected, would be between 18 and 30 years old.

It didn't stop there.

"Retirement homes have also bought from us," says Milstein.

In the Rhine-Main area, however, they concentrate their sales on trendy bars and kiosks such as the YokYok (“customer from the very beginning”) and hip little water houses.

The wine for the spritzer, a blend of Müller-Thurgau and Sauvignon Blanc, comes from a winemaker who grows the vines less than 100 kilometers from the company's headquarters.

Schorlefranz has signed contracts with five wineries from Rheinhessen, Franconia and the Palatinate – including Zetzsche’s former training company.

The aim is to always be able to offer the same taste of the individual types of spritzer.

However, this is not 100 percent possible, after all, this is a natural product.

In the founding phase, the entrepreneurs regularly picked up the wine themselves by car and brought it to Butzbach for further processing.

"It's crazy what you've done yourself," muses the founding couple.

At that time, they tinkered through the gastronomy in Gießener Land, went to festivals and addressed people directly.

Only later, at the beginning of the Corona crisis, did they set up their online shop.

"We've been able to make a living from it ever since."

More than 30 employees

There has long been more than just spritzer under the Franz name. In 2018, mulled wine came onto the market, various mulled wine mixtures, with and without alcohol, which are now among the bestsellers.

But not everything went well.

The Hessians discovered the mixture of cold brew coffee and tonic water in Zurich, tasted it and approved it.

However, her own creation of the mixed drink was not successful.

"It was worth the experience," they say today.

They have had better experiences with beverage packages, such as a Feuerzangenbowle punch.

In addition, the range grew to include sparkling wine, wine and lemonades, jellies and spreads.

Wine glasses, bags or shirts printed with the company logo are also sold online.

A lot has happened since the beginning: the couple has had two children since then.

The youngest addition to the family, who was born this year, is rocked by Zetzsche in a sling.

The trio grew into a workforce of around 35 employees, most of whom work part-time.

The company's headquarters are on the fourth floor of a historic factory building in Gießen and still offer space for new employees who, according to the managing directors, are not so easy to find.

Nevertheless, do you firmly believe in further growth in the future?

Zetzsche, who was born in Berlin, has plenty of ideas for this.

"The business won't necessarily be focused on wine," he says.

He talks about truffle risotto, punch and another mulled wine.

They certainly wanted to expand the non-alcoholic range.

Zetzsche and Milstein do not want to disclose how much money can be earned from this.

"But we can say this much: So far we have been able to increase our sales many times over every year."