The BBC's weekly The Boss series profiles completely different enterprise leaders from around the world. This week we speak to Mirco Wiegert, co-founder and boss of delicate drinks firm Fritz-Kola. Students Mirco Wiegert and Lorenz Hampl had determined to set up their very own cola company, but there was a catch - that they had no concept the way to make the fizzy drink. With the arrogance of youth not letting that inconvenient truth put them off, they decided to do some research. They began phoning breweries across the nation to see if one is perhaps in a position to assist them develop a cola recipe, and then bottle the drink for them. But with all of the brewers busy making Germany's celebrated pilsners and different beers, Mirco says they hit "a whole lot" of dead ends. Many that they called had been somewhat perplexed as to why two young males had been asking if they may make a delicate drink. However, eventually one said sure. Later that yr Mirco and Lorenz had their first 170 crates of Fritz-Kola to sell, some 4,080 bottles. They decided to target unbiased bars to start with, reasonably than strategy supermarkets and other retailers. So driving a van each, they went from bar to bar in Hamburg to attempt to promote them immediately. Today their model is a family title in Germany, and final yr it was the second-largest seller of 330ml glass cola bottles in German retailers, behind solely Coca-Cola. The figures from research group Nielsen showed that Fritz-Kola offered 71 million glass bottles of that dimension in 2019, in contrast with 74 million at Coke, and simply 337,000 at Pepsi. While Coke and Pepsi offered many more models in other formats, akin to plastic bottles of various sizes and cans, it is quite an achievement for a company launched only 17 years in the past from a pupil condominium. In 2003, Mirco and Lorenz determined to adapt a photograph of their faces for their emblem. Mirco says this was because it was the cheapest option, somewhat than as a result of they have been vain. With simply €7,000 (£6,300; $8,300) in mixed financial savings to get the enterprise up and operating, he says it could have been much dearer to purchase the rights to a unique image, or get a bespoke graphic designed. The friends additionally chose a black and white label as a result of printing in color was dearer. To come up with the name of the brand, Mirco says they let most people select. They wrote 40 prospects on a listing, and asked people outdoors a procuring centre. Fritz, a typical German title, received the poll. When it got here to the actual liquid, they wanted their cola to taste totally different to Coke and Pepsi, so that they used less sugar, and added lemon juice. They also decided so as to add much more caffeine. We labored 24/7 almost, and we had loads of enjoyable," says Mirco. "We had been fortunate because people favored our cola model. They have been curious - they saw these two students with a strange cola, and so they stated, 'Let's give it a attempt.' And so they preferred it. By then gross sales had started to grow quicker by way of word-of-mouth and the corporate's use of irreverent advertisements, which continues to at the present time. In 2017 its billboard adverts criticised Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Erdogan, showing paintings of the three leaders, together with the phrases "Mensch, wach auf!" (Man, wake up!). Their cola is at present offered in bars and shops all spherical Europe. After Germany the primary markets are the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium and Austria. Soft drinks analyst Linda Lichtmess from market research firm Euromonitor says Fritz-Cola is common as a result of customers see it as being authentic. Currently Fritz-Kola outsources production to five bottling plants. And along with its regular cola, it now sells a sugar-free version and a range of fruit drinks. Since 2016 Mirco has run the Hamburg-primarily based business by himself, as Lorenz decided to depart that yr to pursue different pursuits. Mirco now owns two-thirds of the shares, with the opposite third being held by plenty of traders. Looking again on the past 17 years, Mirco says that at the start no one believed in them. Today I am liable for 280 folks.