Maxime Buhler is co-founder and CEO of Pokawa. This Thursday, October 20, the entrepreneur appears on the M6 show Patron Incognito. From his studies at SKEMA, to his adventure with Pokawa, to his time on television, a look back at his career.
The academic career of Maxime Buhler (Pokawa)
Maxime Buhler trained in business school. It was at SKEMA that the general director of Pokawa studied. The business school has trained many entrepreneurs, but also artists, like Pierre della Monica, member of the group Bon Entendeur.
Before joining SKEMA, Maxime Buhler was in DUT Tech de Co at Paris Descartes. It was in 2013 that the CEO of Pokawa decided to move the AST competition (parallel admissions) from the business school before joining it the same year.
As in every business school, international is a very present dimension at SKEMA and Maxime Buhler took advantage of his years of study to tour the world with the man who would become his partner, Samuel Carré.
It was therefore during his studies that the CEO of Pokawa met his partner, but also that the idea of Pokawa came to him. Indeed, it was through his culinary experiences around the world that he discovered the concept of pokébowls. Upon leaving SKEMA, in 2018, when Maxime Buhler was not yet 25 years old, he decided to embark on the Pokawa entrepreneurial adventure with Samuel Carré.
Entrepreneurship is not the first professional experience of Maxime Buhler who, during his studies, worked in large companies such as Xerox, Innocent drinks or the startup Stuart, which offers a courier delivery service.
Maxime Buhler and the beginnings of entrepreneurship with Pokawa
With Samuel, Maxime Buhler decides to create a fast food chain around pokébowls. These are rice bowls that customers can personalize by adding meats or fish, vegetables and other treats like avocado.
With Pokawa, the concept of pokébowl is exploding in France. It must be said that Maxime Buhler thought of everything. Far from being content with offering a simple culinary experience, the entrepreneur wanted to offer a whole environment to his customers. Thus, within Pokawa, the atmosphere is deliberately Hawaiian, colorful and floral. In an interview given to our media during confinement, Maxime Buhler explained that each restaurant opening was accompanied by very rapid notoriety.
Maxime Buhler understood this, as CEO of Pokawa, to develop his brand and make it known to the general public, a solution: collaboration. For several years, the fast food brand has been increasing partnerships with chefs to offer exclusives that attract customers.
Pokawa is also storytelling. Maxime Buhler explains, in an interview with BouBouTeaTime“ We work on our storytelling first and foremost in our barakawas. Pokawa is a concept based on Hawaiian, but also Californian, influences, with healthy, fresh and quick-to-eat food. We offer our customers a setting in keeping with this history, colorful and exotic frescoes, omnipresent vegetation and lively music. We like to think of our stores as a beachside cabin where we go to eat with our friends. We want to be a breath of fresh air and put our customers in a good mood. »
Pokawa: Managing the pandemic
The Pokawa channel was created shortly before the pandemic. Maxime Buhler therefore took matters into his own hands with his partner and decided to bounce back by transforming the restaurants of this chain into dark kitchens. Thanks to delivery services, Pokawa has been able to continue to exist in the minds of customers throughout the time of restrictions on outings and travel linked to health instructions.
We interviewed him in full confinement. Maxime Buhler then explained that he felt the need to recharge his batteries in order to best face the pandemic. At the time, among his concerns were safeguarding the jobs of Pokawa employees and the desire to survive through meal delivery. The other lever used by the fast food chain to bounce back was Instagram. Maxime Buhler had launched, with his partner, the Pokawa Fitness Club, a regular meeting during which a sports coach allowed the company’s subscribers to do a little exercise from home.
Pokawa also relies heavily on social networks. According to its co-founder, they participated in the success of his startup and feeding them, but also caring for them, guarantees the popularity of the fast food chain. Furthermore, Maxime Buhler admits to having regularly used influencers, always with the aim of making Pokawa known.
The future of Pokawa and Maxime Buhler
Today, Maxime Buhler recalls that Pokawa is his baby and he will therefore remain involved in the development of the company for a long time. As general manager, he manages all marketing and everything related to communication, while Samuel Carré manages the financial part of the startup.
Regarding Maxime Buhler, if his future is clear within Pokawa, he nevertheless expressed his wish to support other young companies in their development. He actually offers to be a business angel (or investor) to help initiate projects and propel them into successful startups.
Among Pokawa’s projects, we of course find the opening of new restaurants in France, but also abroad. The pokébowls phenomenon is global and Maxime Buhler intends to take full advantage of this notoriety to open Pokawa restaurants in other countries around the world. Between 2021 and 2022, the fast food chain has established itself in Israel, Switzerland, but also in the French Overseas Territories, on Reunion Island.
Maxime Buhler, aka Leopold, in Boss Incognito for Pokawa
This Thursday, October 20, Maxime Buhler is participating in the show Patron Incognito, broadcast on M6. As a reminder, the concept consists of disguising yourself as an intern in order to be as close as possible to the teams to better understand their daily lives, but also the problems they may encounter. In addition, the presence of the cameras is justified by the production of a false documentary on the reintegration of unemployed people.
Maxime Buhler’s big challenge for Patron Incognito is not to be recognized. Indeed, as general manager of Pokawa, the entrepreneur is required to speak regularly on social networks or in the media. The other challenge is not to lose your cool in the face of possible employee errors.
As Maxime Buhler often mentions, Pokawa is in a hyper-growth phase. The brand has opened numerous restaurants in recent years and getting closer to the field is also a way for it to become aware of the consequences of this meteoric growth. He will therefore take on the features of Leopold to carry out his mission.
