The food supplement «Kaex» helps take the edge off an alcohol-induced hangover. Now, this magic potion has got athletes interested. I spoke to CEO Pedro Schmidt and found out why this hasn't made him rebrand his product.
Start-up instead of pharmacy
What do pharmacists generally do after completing their studies if they’re not establishing start-ups? A third of graduates take the federal exam to become chemists; two thirds get jobs in the pharmaceutical industry, in research and development. In Switzerland, this usually means working on cancer drugs. I also joined a large pharmaceutical company after my studies. However, I worked in marketing.
After that, you came up with the idea to develop a hangover cure. A type of product I’ve only ever seen in Asia. How did you come up with it?
I didn’t ask how the substances act. They’re natural and help cure a hangover... That’s all I needed to know.
Indeed, I seem to have got over my hangover from the night before. «Kaex» worked. After the interview, I walk home in the baking midday sun and sweat like a pig. I was grateful for that emergency sachet of «Kaex Basic» waiting for me at home when I arrived totally dehydrated.
When I flew the family nest over 15 years ago, I suddenly had to cook for myself. But it wasn’t long until this necessity became a virtue. Today, rattling those pots and pans is a fundamental part of my life. I’m a true foodie and devour everything from junk food to star-awarded cuisine. Literally. I eat way too fast.
Preparation and research is my daily business. In this case, I’m making a virtue of necessity and bounce some ideas for my next story off Caro over an after-work beer. Only one or two. I’ve got an early start the next day. For an interview with the founder of «Kaex». Our brainstorming session is over after the first beer. We treat ourselves to another one to raise glasses to a productive meeting. Before you know it, it’s only minutes to midnight and the waitress is taking last orders. I feel guilty. Here I am, buzzed and still having to rise early the next day for «Kaex». I reflect for a minute and my pangs vanish into thin air. «Kaex» is an anti-hangover drink, so my lapse is the perfect preparation for the talk with Pedro Schmidt, founder and CEO of «ph.» and inventor of «Kaex». My research begins.
«Kaex Basic» is available in a pack of three. Three identical sachets of powder. You take one before bedtime, and, in the worst case, two the following morning. Once I’m home, I dissolve the contents of the first sachet in three decilitres of water and knock it back in one go. The lemony flavour reminds me of «Isostar». But this drink is thicker. It’s not what I’d call tasty, but if it works, who cares? After getting up the next day, I repeat the process with the second sachet and actually feel a little bit more alive and less hungover than I would normally. Time to meet Pedro. I keep the third sachet for an emergency.
Pedro Schmidt at the «ph.» offices in Zurich Wiedikon
Pedro Schmidt brought «Kaex Basic» to market in 2017. I meet him in their new offices in Zurich’s Kreis 3. He’s wearing a T-shirt and shorts, not a lab coat or a suit. There’s a typical start-up vibe to the place. It’s only during the photo session that Pedro covers up his tattooed arm a bit. «Major banks are investing in our company. I do stand by my tattoos, but they don’t need to be on full display either,» he says with a laugh. Not even if your product is aimed at party people to help get them back on their feet after a night of debauchery. Start-up does not mean whizzing down slides at the office but stands for business. Pedro established the company «ph.» four years ago. Meanwhile, he has ten employees, most of them part-timers. It’s only been a few weeks since his second product hit pharmacy shelves. «Kaex Dolo» is a painkiller that targets hangover headaches. Although the CEO of «ph.» doesn’t have a business background, he has a degree in pharmacy from ETH Zurich.
It was that typical light bulb moment. This was back in 2011. I was coming towards the end of my studies and was out on the town in Cologne with friends. As you’d expect from a bunch of students, we were drinking heavily. The next morning, we dragged ourselves into one of those huge drugstores you find in Germany, our heads pounding. To my surprise, they didn’t have a single product specifically for a hangover. Naturally, this really bothered me at that moment. Back in Switzerland, I kept thinking about that situation. Being the nerd that I am, I started reading studies that explain what happens in the body when you’re hung over. What’s the brain lacking? What does the liver crave? Why do hangovers even happen? One thing led to another and four years later, I’d come up with a formula that would be good to take after drinking alcohol. So I ordered precision scales and the necessary substances online and set up my lab at home – like Walter White in «Breaking Bad». I tested it all myself before giving some to my friends. And I asked them to be critical. After all, I already knew back then that I wanted to bring the product to market and honest opinions were what I needed. A lot of money goes into this kind of product. The feedback was very positive, so I founded my company in 2016.
You just ordered all these powders online? They couldn’t have been easy to find. It’s not like you’d find them on Galaxus... Many things are now available for private use. Magnesium, for example. Having said that, we use a special form of magnesium. Electrolytes are available in sports shops. But there are things in it that are hard to come by. Phosphatidylserine, L-tryptophan and such. Obviously, they’re all legal. But it still took me a long time to find some of the components. Eventually, I got them from specialist retailers.
Next up, you mixed it all together in your drug lab and then called it Kaex? That’s not how it went. The devil is in the detail. By 2015, I had a prototype that worked. In 2016, I founded the company. From January 2016 to August 2016, I was spending all my time on research. I quit my job and developed «Kaex Basic». The main task was to smooth the edges and apply for worldwide patent protection for «Kaex Basic». Now my recipe is really well protected.
But not everyone’s impressed...
Our page is full of comments on «Kaex». Some of them are critical. Some of our customers weren’t happy with the flavour or the consistency of «Kaex Basic». We get this feedback quite frequently. We’ve even changed the recipe once because certain sulphur compounds actually did create an unpleasant eggy taste. Maybe your customers were still drinking the old version. It’s true that the drink is quite thick. This won’t change either, as each ingredient of «Kaex Basic» is perfectly dosed for maximum effect. But there’s a trick. The colder the drink, the easier it is to swallow. Therefore, I recommend putting the powder in a cocktail shaker and shaking it up with ice. This makes it less thick.
Did the powder need approval from Pharmasuisse or the like? No, as «Kaex Basic» is a food supplement, this wasn’t necessary. But «Kaex Dolo» did, as its active ingredients are considered to be medicine. «Kaex Basic» regularly undergoes checks by food inspectors. In our case, they were particularly thorough. Probably because we’re a young company that produces a hangover cure. But they’ve never had anything to complain about. «Kaex Dolo» is considered a medicine. This requires approval from SwissMedic, which we received. The product has been on the market for a few weeks now.
«Kaex Dolo» is a soluble tablet for pain. I swear by «Alka Seltzer» whenever I’ve gone a bit overboard with afterwork beers. That’s not a bad product and «Kaex Dolo» is quite similar. When you’ve been out on a bender, it’s advisable to take our food supplement as well as a painkiller. «Kaex Basic» will refill your drained batteries and rehydrate you. Your body is full of little tanks filled with substances that are empty after a big night out or lots of physical activity. «Basic» refills those tanks. But alcohol is a toxin that causes cell damage and inflammatory symptoms. Those are best treated with «Kaex Dolo». It’s 30 per cent more potent than «Alka Seltzer» yet well tolerated in combination with Basic. There are lots of things you can get wrong when you’re taking painkillers to fight a hangover. Many people have paracetamol at home (editor’s note: e.g. Panadol). However, you should avoid it at all cost after drinking, as it attacks the liver. Unfortunately, many doctors are also unaware of this and fail to warn patients. Many pharmacists were looking forward to stocking «Kaex Dolo» as it’s finally something they can recommend people who stumble into their pharmacy with a massive headache.
The last few years have seen a huge fitness trend. Personally, I associate food supplements with beefy types that knock back protein shakes as if they were water. Alcohol consumption in Switzerland has been gradually decreasing each year. Yet you’ve decided to make a product that’s totally ignoring these developments. Isn’t that a little risky? Yes and no. Let’s take a look at «Kaex Basic». The ingredients are all natural. All components occur in regular foodstuff. All we’ve done is concentrate them. To give you an example: you’d have to eat about 15 eggs to get the same amount of pantothenic acid. Promoting health with natural substances is totally on trend. But you’re right, we did struggle with preconceptions right at the beginning. Initially, «Kaex Basic» was exclusively available in pharmacies. So the product was perceived as a drug. But this changed when Manor, Coop and Migros started to stock it. Suddenly, we were contacted by professional athletes.
Because pro athletes enjoy the odd booze-up? Maybe. But it’s more likely that it’s because physical exertion has a similar effect on the body as heavy drinking. It leaves you dehydrated and with empty tanks. That’s why athletes have discovered «Kaex Basic». Swiss pro wrestler, or «Schwinger», Stefan Studer enquired if «Kaex Basic» is on the doping list. This can be the case with food supplements. Caffeine in heavy doses is on the prohibited list, for example. He was planning to take «Kaex Basic» between rounds at the national Schwing festival «Eidgenössische». We looked into it and were happy to tell him that «Kaex Basic» is not on the doping list.
Why didn’t you just make a sports version of «Kaex Basic»? A new brand, so to speak? We did discuss this but decided against it. Having a beer after working out is common practice among amateur athletes. So we’re looking at the same target group. That’s why we’re now advertising «Kaex Basic» with sports in mind, too. And that’s how we’re positioning the product on the market. Having said that, the Swiss market has actually already been conquered...
What do you mean? «Kaex Basic» is available everywhere. We’re in the top 30 of bestselling drugstore products. In other words, we’ve achieved our goal. Now we’re focusing on «Kaex Dolo» in Switzerland and venturing across the border. The idea, name and overall appearance have been internationally oriented from the get-go. Last autumn Pro 7 invested a million euros in our company. This enables us to enter the German market this autumn. We’re bracing ourselves for an explosion. In one fell swoop, we’re looking at a tenfold increase in market size, which also makes us ready for the EU and other markets. This is because the requirements are the same throughout the EU. All we’ll need to do is find distribution partners in the other countries.
Successful products are generally soon followed by imitations. Some of them are even more successful than the original. Thanks to our patent, it's difficult to copy our product. Sure, there are copycats out there. But those are just marketing stunts – simple vitamin or magnesium supplements advertised as hangover remedies. They usually aren’t very effective and tend to disappear as quickly as they pop up. Customers generally don’t let themselves be taken for a ride. We’ve developed the world’s only product that’s scientifically proven to be effective against hangovers. And this is likely to remain that way in the near future.
