How Nigela Drives Up to €80K a Month in Affiliate Revenue with UpPromote

CHALLENGE

• Keeping influencer affiliates engaged on a commission-only program, where some sign up casually.
• Creators who request a free sample, then go quiet and never start promoting.

SOLUTION

• A founder-led affiliate program run on UpPromote, with influencers managed one-to-one over WhatsApp.
• The CEO handling affiliate outreach personally, alongside his job running the company.

RESULTS

• Around €70K–80K in revenue through UpPromote in peak months.
• Built almost entirely by one person over about one and a half years.

LESSONS

• A founder can launch an affiliate channel alone, but scaling it takes a dedicated owner.
• Gate free samples on performance when your product needs weeks of use to prove itself.

Nigela sells black seed oil to German consumers. It’s a product with centuries of use in Arab countries that has only recently caught on in Germany.

The brand is family-run. CEO Christian “Chris” Schwarzkopf co-founded it with his brother, and Nigela handles its own production in-house.

Nigela’s affiliate channel was built almost entirely by one person. Here is how it got there, and what Chris plans to change next.

How did Nigela grow in a new category?

Black seed oil was not new to Germany when Nigela started. But Chris saw demand for health products rise after COVID.

Everybody’s aware of health, and I think the health trend just raised.

Nigela helped push that awareness further. Chris sees the category’s growth as steady rather than a short-lived trend.

I wouldn’t say it’s a hype because it’s slowly and steady, the growth of this product.

Today, Chris considers Nigela the leader in its niche. While he doesn’t know competitors’ numbers, he sees other brands copying the approach. “Everyone is trying to make it like us,” he pointed out.

A growing, still-young category is where creator recommendations matter most.

How does Nigela run its affiliate program?

Nigela already has a team for paid influencer marketing. The affiliate side is different: Chris has run it himself for about the last one and a half years.

His biggest affiliates are influencers. Instead of a group setup, he texts each one directly on WhatsApp.

Nigela uses UpPromote to run and track the program, and Chris is happy with the platform.

Actually, I’m very satisfied with UpPromote.

That one-person setup has carried the program a long way, but it also defines its limits.

What challenges does Nigela face with creators?

The harder part is people, not tools. Chris was clear that the friction comes from the creator side, not from the platform.

Because the partnership is commission-only, some creators treat it more casually. “Some creators don’t take it as seriously,” he said.

Free samples add a second problem. People sign up, request a sample, and then go quiet.

They get the sample, we pay for the sample, and after three weeks, we are asking, “Hey, did you like the product? Do you want to start?” Yes, yes, yes, and then they never start.

For a supplement that takes time to show results, every unused sample is a real cost.

What results has Nigela seen?

Even with one person managing it, the program has become a meaningful sales channel.

In its peak months, Nigela runs around €70K–80K in revenue through UpPromote.

Chris built that result over about one and a half years, handling affiliate outreach alone alongside his work as CEO.

The numbers show the channel works. The next step is giving it the structure to grow.

What’s next for Nigela’s affiliate program?

Chris is moving from one-to-one chats to a single WhatsApp group for affiliates, which he planned to start right after the call.

I think you can get a lot done if you just chat with one massive group.

He also plans to bring one employee onto affiliate marketing to build stronger feedback loops. “We need more feedback loops,” Chris added.

Further out, Chris is considering a performance threshold before sending free samples, so products go to creators who are already driving sales. He is also exploring UpPromote’s Creator Discovery to find influencers, and expansion beyond Germany into Austria and Switzerland.