Baker & Baker reported a turnover of EUR 450 m and 14% growth in its first year as a standalone business. These results are particularly remarkable in a COVID year and against supply chain issues and spikes in energy costs. John Lindsay, the company’s CEO, shares how the business made such progress and gives us a glimpse into the second year and beyond.
Catalina Mihu: Congratulations on the impressive results! What are your thoughts about the company’s first year?
John Lindsay: Starting with the pandemic, inflation, labor issues (and the list could continue), all things considered, it has been a good year; we are very pleased with how it went. The timing was interesting! Bakeries of all types, but particularly family businesses, such as artisan bakeries in Germany, for example, are truly the unsung heroes of the past years. They were resilient and, even though the coffee corners in the bakery were closed through COVID, the shop itself kept baking and selling bakery goods throughout the pandemic. Artisan bakers, in particular, performed a critical function, which is probably why bakery has held up better than some other industries. They truly deserve credit for serving their communities. Recovery has been different in different countries. We saw foodservice pick up, particularly in the south, and in markets that are more dependent on it – countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy.
