For more than 50 years, Germany’s favorite soft drink, Spezi, has been the popular choice in the country’s shops, bars, and restaurants. In 2024, father-son team Matthias and Anton collaborated to bring the classic beverage stateside. Relaunched with a new name for export to the U.S., Paulaner Sunset uses the original 1974 recipe and is still produced in Munich by the same storied brewery.
Sunset incorporates both orange and lemon juices and natural beet sugar, yielding a complex cola with a zesty citrus kick. Low-fizz carbonation, similar to champagne bubbles, creates an effervescence that is light, crisp, and refreshing—making it the perfect summer cooler, cocktail mixer, or modern complement to a cheese board. Mindful of health-conscious consumers, Paulaner offers Sunset Zero, a no-sugar, no-calorie option as well.
While the original recipe hasn’t changed, neither has the brand’s identity. With its exuberant ‘70s font and graphics, Sunset still sports the same label it did when first introduced—another cheeky nod to the psychedelic times in which it was created.
Recently, we caught up with Matthias and Anton to learn more about their journey and hear their advice for fellow entrepreneurs.
1. Why did you start Sunset?
Sunset is a father-and-son start-up. The original idea came from a family dinner discussion on why the most iconic German soda, Spezi (rebranded as Sunset for the U.S. market), is not sold outside of Germany. We couldn’t find a convincing reason for this and started to pitch the idea of bringing Sunset to the world. All the experts from the soft drink industry had a cold and hard answer: “This is the stupidest idea I have ever heard of.” This made us even more convinced we were onto something, and we bought the rights to bring Spezi to the US market. I came out of retirement, and Anton quit university to embark on this adventure.
2. What obstacles did you face along the way?
Because we couldn’t use the German name Spezi, we had to rebrand it. Naming agencies wanted $100,000 for their services, so we decided to use ChatGPT instead. It came up with “Sunset.”
We arrived in Los Angeles from Germany on September 29, 2023, with no place to live, no office, no experience in consumer products, and knowing nobody in L.A. At the same time, a ship with 12 containers of Sunset was on the way to L.A., and at the last minute, our importer/distributor ditched us. We had to scramble to find a replacement in four weeks; otherwise, 120,000 bottles would have been stranded in L.A. customs. From that point on, things became only more and more intense and wild…
3. What lessons do you have for other entrepreneurs?
Knowing nothing about the business can be an advantage. You break rules that you don’t even know exist to go the unbeaten path. Insiders will take the common-sense path that gives them the highest comfort and lowest risk. If you want to challenge the status quo and disrupt the current market leaders, this approach will fail. The key for us is to constantly challenge what we do and how we do it. For us that key has been to ask many questions and constantly experiment to find the answers. Identify what works and double down on it, but also be prepared to immediately discontinue what doesn’t work.
4. What’s on the horizon for Sunset?
In 2025, we want to grow tenfold and move from being the go-to soda for early adopters and hardcore German fans to becoming the soda for all soft drink enthusiasts in the U.S. market.
5. How do you keep work/life balance? What drives/inspires you?
We are on the wrong side of work-life balance. However, we are both in strong personal relationships and are invested in further growing them. What is critical is to create a work culture where everybody has maximum freedom to develop, grow, and drive Sunset forward. It is also very important to have fun, so you will always hear laughter at 1804 Lincoln Boulevard.
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