From small miracles – the WUNDERFORM

Who's behind the WUNDERFORM?

Mark founded Ambikon GmbH about 10 years ago, and I [Note: Ralf Scheel] joined as a freelance product designer in 2016. Together, we realized our vision of a new "colorful" brand with innovative products. The COOX brand of Ambikon GmbH represents innovative and intelligent kitchen products.

What is the WUNDERFORM?

The WUNDERFORM is a patented foldable baking mold with numerous advantages over a traditional metal or silicone loaf pan. The key Unique Selling Points (USPs) are: space-saving, no need to invert the cake anymore, you can glaze the cake directly on the WUNDERFORM, and the WUNDERFORM is easy to clean.

How did you come up with the idea for the product?

The origin of our invention was when I was trying to bake a birthday cake for my wife with my 3 kids. What ended up being a half catastrophe from an aesthetic point of view – the cake was broken, and the kitchen was a mess! That's when the development of a "better" baking mold began.

How did you initially attempt to market the baking mold?

In April 2017, the WUNDERFORM was first introduced and sold on QVC Shopping TV. With this reference, other trading partners quickly showed significant interest in the WUNDERFORM as well.

When and how did you come up with the idea of attending a trade fair?

The trade fair was a rather spontaneous idea to present our COOX brand and the WUNDERFORM to an international audience.

What were your concerns about attending a trade fair?

Since we were confident in our product and had a clear trade fair strategy, we had very few concerns.

What happened at the "Ambiente" trade fair?

Perhaps because we had only a 12-square-meter booth, which was very lovingly designed and executed, we quickly felt like a hidden gem at Ambiente due to the numerous interested parties. In 2019, we won the Kitchen Innovation Award – which is why we, together with our partner B/R/K Vertriebs GmbH, had a special participation at Ambiente: Throughout the entire trade fair period, the award-winning products were displayed in a large special area, and in daily live cooking shows, trade visitors could take a closer look at the awarded products.

Where do you see the advantage of attending a trade fair over other marketing measures?

Most marketing measures are directed more towards end customers; the trade fair allowed us to meet international major customers.

What advice would you give to other start-ups / newcomers to trade fairs?

We believe that it was the right strategy for us to appear with a small (but fine) booth and only one product. This way, we created the feeling among traders that they had discovered a little treasure in the vast sea of trade fair products. Moreover, start-ups are currently quite trendy, so we think it makes little sense, as was often customary in the past, to appear larger than you are.

What happened to the Coox WUNDERFORM after the trade fair?

We managed to place the WUNDERFORM in many major retail stores and now have international distribution partners as well.

Were you also seen on TV?

Yes, we had the opportunity to present our invention to a broad audience on the Pro7 show "Das Ding des Jahres" ("The Thing of the Year"). Primarily, it was a great chance for us to peek behind the scenes of such a production.

Where are you now?

It's an ongoing journey, with new challenges every day, whether in sales, marketing, or product development.

Are you yourselves passionate hobby bakers?

We both have children, and they love to bake, which makes them our best product and recipe testers.

Thank you for your time! The Viavend team wishes you continued success with your innovative little WUNDER 😊