ROMANIA: Brot Manufactur bakery “leavened” a 25% higher business in H1 | Progresiv
Brot Manufactur, a traditional German bakery, reported business 25% higher in the first half of this year, compared to the same period in 2016, said Frieder Wöhrmann, the majority shareholder of the bakery, for Progresiv magazine. 
The company aims to maintain the sales growth rate by the end of the year. Last year, the bakery chain exceeded the 1 million lei threshold, attaining a business of about 1.1 million lei, so that by 2017 the target is to reach sales of 1.3 million lei.
"As expected, we recorded a 25% increase in sales in the first half of the year, which allowed us to continue our expansion plan. By the end of 2017, we aim to maintain the sales growth rate by expanding our product portfolio and opening a new location", Wöhrmann said.
Recently, the number of German bakeries rose, a fifth place being added in our country, set up in the Capital, in the Tineretului area. As in the other four locations in Romania, in the new store there is a wide range of bakery products based on German tradition and quality. Currently, Brot Manufactur is located in five locations in Bucharest, in the areas: Tineretului, Pipera, Aviatorilor, Floreasca and Domenii.
"Our plans to expand the chain of stores do not yet include the opening of stores outside Bucharest. Our strategy is to expand our product portfolio and our shops", the company's shareholder pointed out.
The founders of the family business established in 2014 observe that Romanians are increasingly interested in the products marketed in Brot Manufactur bakeries and thus the main challenge for them is to meet the new expectations of their customers.
"This year's main challenge was to provide quality products and always fresh to our customers. I think the most important thing is that people start taking care of their health and the food they eat, which is why we are more than convinced that we will have a good evolution in the future", said Brot Manufactur’s shareholder.
The Brot Manufactur assortment consists of 11 kinds of bread, 12 types of specialties - buns, pretzels, etc. - an area of sweets and six types of sandwiches, all of which are prepared in the store, according to original recipes, by a German baker.
In addition to bakery products, there is also an offer of delicacies that are usually consumed with bread such as canned meat, special mustards, honey, jam, German wines or lemonades.
Daily, an average of 100 customers steps into the German bakeries, leaving about 15 lei for a bill.
Brot Manufactur is a family business born because of the lack of traditional bakery products from which the owners - a Romanian-German family - can supply from, but also from their desire to offer to Bucharest the opportunity to consume German bread produced after traditional recipes. Last year, the company reported a turnover of 1.1 million lei, up by 400,000 lei over the previous year.
