The Academy of the German Bakery Craft Weinheim (Akademie Deutsches Bäckerhandwerk Weinheim – ADB) is expanding its popular bread sommelier training course, which will be offered in English starting this September.

The teaching materials are translated into English, including the Weinheim bread language. Additional adjustments were also made for the upcoming course: two longer face-to-face modules are planned, instead of the short ones which are regularly part of the bread sommelier training, to better support bakers traveling from other countries. The first module starts in September 2023 and the second one in September 2024. Several online modules are scheduled in between the two in-person sessions, as well as practical project work, which is generally required of all bread sommeliers. The exam requirements will be similar to those of the German-language training course.

“This is a fairly complex project because, for example, sensory components are more difficult to convey online than live,” says Kütscher. The Weinheim team has developed a dedicated system for this.

The bread sommelier training course was established in 2015, with 200 graduates from German-speaking countries, including Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Alsace and South Tyrol . It is only available to master bakers. Because there is no championship title in these countries, the qualifications of each international participant are instead verified through a CV, certificates and online tests, the ADB explains.

With the expansion of this course, the Federal Academy wants to grow the network of bread sommeliers, and connect with other international activities such as international youth competitions or iba. Information about the new offer is provided on the English-language section of the Federal Academy’s website.

Photo: The Academy of the German Bakery Craft Weinheim