Premium bakery products are the business segment of the organic wholesale bakery Bio Breadness. For 2021, the Pandriks Group, to which the German subsidiary belongs, expects total sales of EUR 80m. Approval as a Demeter operation now takes the company to the next organic quality level.
Despite Corona and the 2020 lockdown phases, Bio Breadness is well positioned with high-quality organic bakery products and a focus on the trade. Managing Director Andreas Swoboda expects a positive sales development for the coming fiscal year. He sees a slight Corona-driven push effect for organic. “We are finding that quality with a health connection is boosting sales.”
When people shopped less frequently in the initial 2020 lockdown, buying momentum shifted downward, and so did organic bakers’ sales in the short term. Bio Breadness managed the dip with Corona well through the summer. One of the products that got a boost was MAP-packaged organic baked goods for baking at home. “Our SlooOW brand is performing well in the market,” explains Andreas Swoboda. “Its appeal lies not least in the opportunity for consumers to stock up on top-quality organic baked goods.”
“With organic, I’m doing something good; it tastes better to me and it’s good for me. That’s the spirit we try to convey with our products.“
Andreas Swoboda
To add momentum to the upward trend, Bio Breadness decided to partner with Demeter. “We appreciate the quality philosophy and what is behind it. In addition, it is a clear step towards fulfilling our social mission and working towards an agricultural turnaround. It is a good cooperation not only for our sales, but also for our inner attitude.”
In January 2021, the first two SlooOW rolls in Demeter quality were launched on the market. A conscious decision was made to use two items that can be placed as a‚ ‘double.’ “The pastries are a real innovation,” explains Swoboda. “We work with Demeter quality, with long-term management and we bake on stone. We have created a modern item that is also attractive to young people.” Initial reactions from retailers have been positive. As to whether more products will be added, the CEO doesn’t want to commit. “We’ll decide six or eight months before the next harvest if we can increase the amount of Demeter-quality raw ingredients.”
With organic breads, organic baguettes and organic rolls for the bake-off stations of the trade and MAP-packed for end consumers, Bio Breadness has a narrow range. It has said goodbye to organic toast, still part of the range until fall 2019. “We have had a relatively dynamic development and have had to focus. That has done us good.”
Families, 50-year-olds and the Millennials
Among organic buyers, Bio Breadness identifies two major consumer groups: on the one hand, families with young children, and consumers with an average age of around 50. Meanwhile, another large group is emerging, on the other hand: millennials, which also has to do with the fact that Bio Breadness has a strong presence at retail customer’ self-service stations, he says. “We see a growing consumer group of young people here who are open to sustainability and organic. They are a crucial target group for future sales development,” he adds. “To reach them, it takes products that are perceived as cornerstone items of daily consumption, not exceptional pastries. We need to focus on such items to reach young people in a relevant scope. That is our goal! We want organic to reach the middle of society.”
Differences in Europe
The organic markets in Europe differ – and not only in their scale. Bio Breadness points out a noticeable dynamic in France, Denmark and the Netherlands, among others, as well as in Eastern European countries such as Poland. For bread in particular, he says, organic demand often depends on how packaged goods are accepted. “In the Netherlands, for example, people are more used to buying prepackaged bread. There, the increase in MAP-packed goods in the first lockdown was, in my observation, even greater than in Germany. Germans
already like to buy their bread unpackaged.” In general, it can be said that in the regions of Europe where people have a good handle on their primary needs and are concerned about the environment and the future of our planet – especially from the youth movement – support for organic food is strong.
When it comes to plastic packaging, Bio Breadness is on the lookout for alternatives. Swoboda: “The whole industry is on the lookout. Although there are various packages based on renewable raw materials, on cellulose or on corn, the problem is the same for all of them. You can’t get the compatibility of sealing and barrier properties and the necessary low oxygen content right immediately, it takes time.”
Price developments on the organic market follow their own laws. Organic raw materials are in limited supply, and price fluctuations are higher than for conventional baked goods. But there is more at stake. Andreas Swoboda: “If we want to offer value-for-money organic that everyone can afford, it must not be cheap, but value for money. We pay particular attention to our own efficiency in the company and in the trade, so that we can pay the farmers appropriate compensation for their performance.”
Organic Breadness
Bio Breadness, based in Fulda/Germany, has been part of the Dutch Pandriks Group since 2016. The latter bought the company from the WEG Foundation
almost five years ago – at that time still under the name ggg (gutes gut gebacken GmbH). An artisanal mill near Bamberg/Germany secures the supply of raw materials.
Bio Breadness supplies organic breads, organic baguettes, and organic rolls to retailers and specialty retailers in Germany and six European countries. The organic wholesale baker makes 80% of its sales with bake-off products; 20% is
contributed by MAP-packaged organic bakery products, which run under the SlooOW brand. The range includes five buns and baguettes in organic quality; since the beginning of 2021, it has also included two small baked goods in Demeter quality. Frozen household packs, which the company recently launched, are not yet relevant to sales.
With a total of 100 employees in five teams, Bio Breadness produces 24/7. Everything runs in close coordination with the Dutch parent company, which has also been certified organic since 2020. The fact that ‘Bio’ can be produced not only in Germany but also in parallel in Meppel creates room for more flexibility, and it shortens delivery routes. Organic customers in Benelux are supplied from Holland.
At the end of December 2020, Pandriks put an extension into operation. 13,000 square meters of production space, a line for the production of bread for bake-off and a cold storage facility with 12,000 pallet spaces were added at the Meppel headquarters. Currently, the possibilities for expansion at the German subsidiary are being reviewed. Andreas Swoboda: “There is also room for expansion in Fulda. We are looking to see to what extent we can take a step further.”
