KLECS foods from Köthen are finding more and more friends

A freshly prepared sales wagon stands in the back yard. Liquids are bubbling away in the laboratory. A laboratory assistant prepares a mixture. Next to her, another employee is packing glasses and bottles. And in the office are Kerstin and Eyk Loettel, chatting away about a new pasta sauce.

The back offices of the Köthen-based company KLECS are really busy nowadays. For almost two years, Director Kerstin Loettel and her four employees who work “in the service of people’s health” have been producing probiotic and healthy food and drink products.

“Irrespective of whether it’s our spreads, mousses, chutneys or juices – all of our products represent natural and healthy nutrition,” explains Kerstin Loettel, “since we almost exclusively use ingredients from regional or organic cultivation.” This barely describes probiotic foods, however, and there is far more to this term: “Probiotic food and drinks contain certain living micro-organisms, primarily lactic acid bacteria, which enter the intestines and achieve a positive health effect” explains Eyk Loettel who studied brewing. It is also a scientific fact that probiotic products strengthen the immune system and have a positive effect on digestion.
Fact: a balanced bacterial colonisation of the intestine:

  1. supports digestion and reducing the risk of diarrhoea through reducing the bacterial count of diarrhoea bacteria,
  2. prevents the settlement of pathogen germs and other environmental microorganisms through the development of a protective shield,
  3. stimulates the immune system.

 

The German Institute for Risk Evaluation (BfR) defines probiotics as being “living microorganisms which in sufficient quantity and in active form enter the intestine and therefore achieve positive health-related effects.” The firm Lebensmittel-KLECS (an artificial name which stands for the company mascot which is a ladybird) originated from another company owned by Kerstin Loettel. This exclusively produces natural feed additives for animal fodder: "In this context, lactic acid bacteria play an important role" explains Eyk Loettel. "The bacteria added to the fodder firstly improve the fodder intake and also help to prevent the animals suffering from diarrhoea. Furthermore, fodders which are fermented with lactic acid bacteria are also more durable. Less is thrown away and the farmer saves lots of money."

Kerstin Loettel recalls: "A company that had heard about our experiences with the lactic acid bacteria asked if we could develop a corresponding drink for them." The customer had some precise ideas about which varieties of fruit and vegetable the drink should contain and in what proportions. "We set to work without knowing what to expect. All we knew was that the juice would taste acidic and slightly bitter after the bacteria had broken down all of the sugar."

And so mountains of fruit and vegetables were peeled, cooked, squeezed out and mixed with lactic acid bacteria. Eventually the time came to present the contractor with the juice for testing: "It tasted just as we had imagined" recalls Kerstin Loettel.

It was during the development of the drink that a new business idea emerged: "I asked myself what we would do with all the juice from the fruit and vegetables that was left after we had prepared the juice" she says, "throwing it all away would have been a shame because it was so rich in vitamins." Kersin Loettel asked her husband for some time out and went into the kitchen. She started to experiment with the pulpy mush of vitamins (consisting, among others, of tomatoes, figs, dates, ginger, fennel, peas, carrots, millet, broccoli and papaya). "I knew that I had to develop products which can tolerate a certain level of acid without the need for additives, yet which still tasted nice." This led to the creation of the first chutneys, a tomato sauce and two spreads: "The start of KLECS." The offering was developed and the number of customers began to grow.

A lot has happened since then: Kerstin Loettel now offers 37 different products: marmalades, spreads, fruit mousse, pesto, sauces, power drinks and even mustards have been developed and are all very popular: "the KLECS ladies are responsible for the great taste" says Kerstin, laughing, "but it's my husband who looks after the production and scientific side of things."

To raise the profile of their probiotic products everywhere they can, Kerstin and Eyk Loettel have been touring regional markets in Saxony-Anhalt in a small sales van. Klecs also has an internet-based  shop (www.klecs.de). The products are very popular with their clientele and are now on offer in an increasing number of delicatessen shops and specialist retailers across Germany. In addition to this, KLECS regularly attends the 'Consumenta' event in Nuremburg. This year the Köthen-based company presented its products at the international Green Week event in Berlin, advertising with the slogan of 'food without the E-numbers' (artificial flavourings, colourings, flavour enhancers and preservatives). And it was a success: "We made lots of new contacts at regional markets and with regional shops, and also brought a wide range of suggestions for new food products home with us" says Kerstin Loettel, before saying goodbye - and returning to her test kitchen.


Author: Thomas Pfundtner

Contact:
Klecs Kerstin Loettel
Friedrich-Ebert-Str. 26
Bio (+) technikum Haus 20
06366 Köthen
Web: www.klecs.de