INTERVIEW
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A well-prepared journey 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.
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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. Mihu: Out of the seven countries where Baker & Baker operates, which have been the best-performing markets (and market segments) over the past year? Lindsay: The growth was general and not specific to a certain country. The key dynamic was the quick rebound of the most affected markets. Looking at the pandemic as a whole, countries that were more foodservice-focused were the hardest hit. In our case, Benelux and the south were impacted the most. But, they also had the strongest recovery. The core markets for us, the UK and Germany, were relatively resilient through the pandemic. Restaurants and gastronomy closed down, whereas bakeries and in-store bakeries kept going. Foodservice is just a part of our business so the
www.bakingbiscuit.com 03/2022
John Lindsay
impact we felt was nowhere near what companies having 80% of their business reliant on the sector experienced. Alternatively, bakeries and in-store bakeries, probably benefitted to some degree from restaurants being closed. Looking back on it now, some of that business would, naturally, shift to other outlets such as local bakeries. Mihu: As Baker & Baker enters its second year in business, what is the current outlook for the markets? Lindsay: With restrictions, for the most part, lifted, the markets are continuing to stabilize. What we are looking forward to is the real recovery of tourism, especially in the Iberian Peninsula – starting with Spain. Spain was hit very hard, its tourism industry was virtually closed off, with a very low hotel occupancy. We see things beginning to recover: this Easter was a turning point in this regard. To a lesser extent, looking at countries like Switzerland, France, or Italy, if tourism is again up and running, that would almost bring us back to a pre-pandemic position.
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