Christmas biscuits
Gingerbread manufacturer in the baking stress – soon starts sales
Ice is still very popular with many people. But the Christmas cookies are already in the starting blocks. Why does it come on the market well before the start of Advent?
More than three months before the start of Advent, the production of gingerbread and other Christmas specialties is in full swing. At Lebkuchen Schmidt in Nuremberg, the Backstrasse currently work around the clock over six days a week. The works of the Aachener Lambertz Group are also very busy from June to August. The first gingerbread, tunnels and cinnamon stars will soon be on the market – and many people are surprised again every year about the early start of sales.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, the 75 German manufacturers produced a good 81,000 tons of gingerbread, honey cake and similar pastries last year, in 2023 there were still 86,800 tons. According to the Federal Association of the German Connection Industry, a good quarter of the Christmas specialties are exported.
Main turnover at the end of the year
Lambertz owner Hermann Bühlbeck explains an important role in Eastern Europe, where gingerbread is eaten all year round. The most important sales market is still Germany and the neighboring European countries, where gingerbread, tunnels, prints & Co. are mainly bought in November and December. Gingerbread Schmidt also makes its main turnover in the last three months of the year.
But why are gingerbread, speculoos and cinnamon stars to be found in the supermarket shelves from the end of August? According to the Federal Association of German Food Trade, this has been common for years – because the demand is available, as Managing Director Philipp Hennerkes says. With the end of the vacation time, the anticipation of the quieter winter time is growing. Experience showed that in September and October as much as in November and December.
Bad weather makes an appetite for Christmas
Whether consumers have a big appetite for traditional delicacies many weeks before Christmas depends heavily on the weather, says consumer researcher Carsten Leo Demming from the Baden-Württemberg University in Heilbronn: Christmas biscuits sell better with gray sky, he says.
In innovations and trends, however, the Germans are not very keen to experiment with Christmas specialties. These expected classic, traditional products, says Bühlbecker. “Significant modifications to the product characteristics and even the recipes are therefore not accepted.”
Carefully with new trends
In general, there is greater demand for organic and vegan products, Gingerbekuchen Schmidt operations manager Dirk Kuen has found. With the classic Nuremberg gingerbread you are careful with new trends. “The development of a new gingerbread can take up to two years.” And the specialist rejects some creations from the start: extreme flavors such as chilli or the hyped Dubai chocolate. “That would not fit our gingerbread,” he says.
dpa
Source: Stern
