Aquapurna

Aquapurna - Pirates of Wunstorf

Aquapurna breeds shrimp in aquaculture. But not somewhere in Asia or Africa — in Wunstorf. More precisely, in the district of Bokeloh on the Kali & Salz (potash and salt) grounds. In the shadow of the massive spoil heap, left over from decades of potash mining and now being renaturalised.

How did it all start?

After I was in Hamburg, I visited two of the founders, David Gebhard and Florian Gösling, and of course got to meet a large part of the by now not-so-small team.

David and Florian came to me with their — as I thought at the time — somewhat crazy idea of breeding shrimp in aquaculture in a sustainable and efficient way. David is a fully qualified lawyer, Florian an engineer. Honestly, I don't even know why they had become so passionate about shrimp.

We knew each other from a talk I had given in Munich at the Chair of Entrepreneurship. I like to eat, but I have no clue about food production. I told the two of them as much. And grumbled about various weak points. Months later, David called me again. They had taken on the issues and solved them. I was deeply impressed and decided to invest in them.

The startup from the Hanover region is driven by the ambition to breed the best shrimp. With the best flavour and the perfect texture. In fact, it's probably also the most sustainable shrimp. And likely the healthiest too. It's then marketed to end consumers under the catchy name "Gamba Zamba" — fitting, I think, because this team is really shaking up the market...

I got the feeling that these guys from Regensburg and Detmold, who are now working on their dream here in the middle of Germany, have turned every detail of shrimp farming on its head. They're proud of their experimental spirit and the outstanding KPIs that come with it. And rightly so!

Aquapurna shrimp are bred entirely without antibiotics. Other commonly used chemicals are also avoided. So the product presents itself in a quality that is far above the industry average.

How does the Aquapurna shrimp taste?

But how does it taste? The team had set up a small camping table in front of their farm. Even lovingly arranged with a white tablecloth. A let's say affordable induction plate sat on top and Florian was wielding the cast-iron pan. He meant business: a high-quality olive oil, a bit of rosemary and garlic, small red chilli. And after just a few minutes, the shrimp lost their deep royal blue and turned pink. I, the layman, had always thought that was their natural colour... We peel. And taste.

I was completely surprised. The usually fishy taste was gone. The Aquapurna shrimp has an almost sweet, rather turkey-like aroma. With a very slight nutty hint. And perhaps a faint touch of pineapple. With a bit of imagination at least. The texture is crisp, firm and rather meaty. Wonderful!

Gamba Zamba!

We savour in silence. And I note with some regret that production capacity currently only allows them to supply some markets in and around Hanover. At https://gamba-zamba.de you'll find a shop finder if you scroll down. There you can currently check who already carries these magnificent shrimp. Unfortunately there's no supply in Mallorca yet, and I'm afraid that "ordinary" shrimp won't excite me as much anymore after today. The upcoming scaling of production will hopefully make this product available to all of us.

And yes, C&P Holding has an investment in Aquapurna. But if you think that's why I'm writing some rubbish, you're wrong. And if you don't believe me, just try it for yourselves!