True Stories
Meet Benjamin Koch, CEO & founder of Capanova GmbH
Benjamin Koch, founder and creator of Capanova, holds a degree in Marketing and Communication and worked in numerous sales and marketing positions in different companies before creating Capanova, a cosmetics brand of natural hair styling products for men.
NATRUE: When and how was Capanova created? What’s the idea behind this brand?
Benjamin Koch: I never planned to start my own business, nor did I explicitly look for an idea. However, in 2017 I had a bad experience using a conventional hair styling product. I tried others but the result was the same. I couldn’t find a styling product on the market that really fulfilled my demands regarding its ingredients. I did some research and found out that there weren’t really completely natural hair styling products for men in the market, so I simply decided to do something good for myself and for all the men in the world. That’s how Capanova was born. My vision was to the develop a world’s leading natural hair styling series of products for men. In February 2020, after two and a half years of hard work, my wish came true: Capanova was launched in the market. And it was all only possible with the great support of one of the biggest natural cosmetic manufacturers, which believed from the first moment both in me and in my idea. I am really proud and happy that we are able to produce these fantastic products in the highest quality and in a variety of special natural ingredients.
NATRUE: What are the values of Capanova? How are these values represented in its products?
Benjamin Koch: With Capanova we do not only want to deliver natural hair styling products for men, but also to give something back to the world and to nature, and just do something good. It was very important for me that any company I started was very sustainable. For example, Capanova has a partnership with WWF to protect wildlife in the Amazonas area and is a carbon neutral company. We’re doing all we can to contribute to the protection of the environment. And this is just the beginning! We invest a large part of our income on such actions, and we do it out of conviction.
NATRUE: What are the “star ingredients” of Capanova’s products?
Benjamin Koch: We only use natural ingredients, so it’s difficult to name just one! However, my personal favourites are volcano ash, glacier water, caffeine, menthol and, of course, our Inca-Inchi oil from Peru. I have a very personal and special relation with Peru as this is the country where my idea for Capanova comes from.
NATRUE: How is Capanova adapting to the new trends and consumer demands in the natural and organic cosmetics sector?
Benjamin Koch: I am sure Capanova came out at the right time. Men are increasingly paying more and more attention to their cosmetic products. While the consumption of cosmetic products is still mainly led by women, men are in the fast lane and they are catching up with the latest trends in cosmetics. In addition, the natural cosmetics sector has grown like no other sector in recent years, so we have exciting times ahead of us! Capanova is currently considering expanding our range of products. Of course, it will have something do to with haircare, because that’s our expertise.
NATRUE: How do you perceive the role of NATRUE in the natural and organic cosmetic sector?
Benjamin Koch: This is a good question as we asked ourselves from the beginning: “How can we prove to people that we really use just natural ingredients?”. To be honest, we did a lot of research about this and, in the end, it was more than clear that we needed to trust high-quality standards. For us, NATRUE is the highest benchmark for natural cosmetics. End consumers need one standard that they can trust. In our opinion, NATRUE is the perfect certification people can rely on. I personally hope that NATRUE will keep on consolidating itself as the best private standard for natural and organic cosmetics. Who needs multiple standards? It just confuses everything and everybody!
NATRUE: What would you say to brands that want to join NATRUE? And to consumers that look for truly natural and organic cosmetic products?
Benjamin Koch: That it is a good idea! So far, I can only say positive things about working with NATRUE and also about the process of certification of our products. They have strict standards and as a customer you have always the feeling that they work very professionally. I also keep saying to friends and family: please pay attention to the NATRUE seal when you are looking to buy natural cosmetic products! If this seal is on a product, you can be sure you are getting a high-quality product with natural and organic ingredients that meet your expectations.
Finally, I want to reveal a secret. People often ask me “Why the name ‘Capanova’?” or “Where does the name come from?”. Very easy! You can translate Capanova as “New Hair”. “Capa” comes from “capelli” (“hair” in Italian) and “nova” (“new) from “novus” in Latin. The result, “Capanova”, also reminds a bit of “Casanova”! And what man doesn’t want sometimes to be a Casanova? 😉
Capanova will be in the German TV format “Die Höhle der Löwen” on 14 April at 20.15 on VOX. Don’t miss it!
For more information about Capanova, visit www.capanova.com
Download this interview here.