As an ultra runner training for 100-mile races in the highlands of central Vietnam, German-born Markus Gnirck was well versed in endurance nutrition before launching Lecka in 2022.
“Running three to six hours for ultramarathons makes one hungry, but I didn't want to have another Snickers,” he laughed. “And you can’t take just bananas with you either.”
Tapping into Vietnam’s abundant selection of fresh and local fruits, it became very clear these ingredients could be harnessed for endurance sports nutrition. “Trail running, triathlons, hiking and ultras were all taking off; I thought, why not do something in that space.”
When the COVID pandemic forced Vietnam to lock down its borders, Markus said the country became rather calm and quiet, allowing the local trail running community to safely continue to train and compete. As a result, Lecka Nutrition had its first round of product testers.
Packed in banana leaves, a fairly common way to transport food in the region, Lecka Energy Bars made its debut in the ultra community. “Arguably, it’s probably the most green and sustainable packaging ever,” Markus laughed.
Those early banana-leaf-wrapped-energy bars propelled Lecka into the endurance fuel market.
As a self described “bar guy,” Markus launched Lecka with four energy bars; mango coconut, pineapple banana, cacao banana, and banana cinnamon. Using semi-dried fruits, the product takes just three weeks to go from harvesting the ingredients to a fully packaged product. Going batch to batch in this fashion ensures the freshest product every time.
Natural food is real food, Markus said, and the flavors of Lecka’s natural food taste real. “I want you to taste the mango, the pineapple,” he said. “That can confuse people from time to time, as many other brands use flavor drops. This is the real thing.”
The same applies to Lecka’s line of energy gels, newly launched in 2024. “I realized nearly all of these gels followed the same recipe,” Markus said. “A mix of dextrin, glucose, potassium, and natural or artificial flavoring. And despite the crazy margins, many of them cause GI distress!”
One of the first challenges of making the Lecka leap was how to scale the brand. “How do you go from a kitchen recipe that tastes like this and ensure it tastes the same after making 10,000 of them?”
Like the good engineer he is, Markus drafted up a spreadsheet of 300 or so recipes, testing all different fruits, ranging from common bananas and mangos to more exotic dragon fruit or durian fruit. Combined with brown rice syrup, basil seeds (the chia seed of Asia) and essential electrolytes, Lecka’s energy-boosting ingredients not only work well, but taste good, too.
“It’s so interesting to see how flavors and taste buds vary so much across the world.” Vietnam is full of vibrant flavors and fresh options, Markus said, they have high expectations. “They are the harshest critics, and they don’t hold back,” he laughed. “But I learned it was an opportunity to refine the flavors with them to ensure we’re making very good ones.”
Over seven months of testing different fruits, consistencies, and packaging materials, Lecka, German for “yummy”, launched three energy gels; banana, passion fruit, and coffee cacao.
The production of energy gels is an even faster process, Markus said. “Within 10 miles from the factory, we go from farm-to-gel in less than a day,” Markus said. “Imagine a banana picked on the farm, processed into a gel, and packaged all within 18 hours. We hope that comes out in the taste.”
As a youth growing up in Germany, Markus has always identified as a runner. An accomplished track and field athlete, he later pursued studies in aerospace engineering, leading to a career based in London and later Singapore.
“I was in a very fast paced technology life, and now many things have changed. I look at life quite differently now, with much more harmony. Lecka is an opportunity to do good things.”
Quoting Arnold Schwarzenegger, Markus strives to always be useful. “Do something that is useful and take it from there. We’re not unique in the sense of providing an energy boost, but it’s about having a natural food choice that’s also easy on the stomach. We stand out with the freshness and our supply chain.”
The success Lecka has seen is not lost on Markus and his Vietnamese-based team. “It’s mind blowing for them, it means so much. For them to see our product, it’s a dream come true. As a brand, we’re building bridges between the east and west.”
“For someone to have a Lecka and smile and enjoy it, that’s important to me. People tell me Lecka is real food and that makes me smile. For them, having Lecka is a moment of joy.”
Originally from Alaska, Maria currently resides in Montana with her husband, two young daughters and chocolate lab named Echo. When she’s not chasing her kids or that next running goal, you can find her weekend-warrioring in the mountains or thinking about her next cup of coffee.
