INTERVIEW
Quality makes a strong argument again Armin Juncker, Chief Executive of the Association of German Plant Bakeries, shares his views on the
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impact caused by COVID-19, topics on the table at AIBI and the question of enzyme labeling.
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bbi: Europe seems to have at least put the for example by 3% in Belgium and by 5% in the worst phase of the pandemic behind it. Netherlands. However, the development of What conclusions have the German plant packaged bread is positive and small artisan bakers drawn thus far? bakeries supplying the local markets Juncker: The spring of 2020, which have also been able to hold their own, saw the first region-wide restaurant and because apparently customers have shop closures, also caused enormous placed a great deal of trust in the disruption in Germany’s bread and products. baked goods industry. Hoarding purchases, as reported in other industries, bbi: What topics are currently on AIBI’s also occurred in bread and baked agenda? goods. As a result, many large bakeries Juncker: AIBI has traditionally been reduced their range of products and only very interested in all food law processes supplied a basic assortment for a period of which, as is well known, have their starting A r m i n n c k er Ju several weeks. By doing this, they ensured that the point or at least have an important promoter at bread shelves in discount stores and grocery stores were not European level. For this purpose, AIBI set up a Technical completely sold out. Committee some time ago, in which the experts of all AIBI Although customers avoided purchasing unpackaged bakery member associations work on food law issues. The chairman products from the bake-off sections for an extended period of this committee is Alexander Meyer-Kretschmer from the of time, sales of packed bread from the bread shelf and German association. Some of the topics currently being freezer have remained stable. At the time of writing this, the dealt with can be found in the answers below. ‘unpackaged’ sector has yet to return to 2019 levels. The same In addition, AIBI follows the economic and legal developis true for companies located in high-frequency settings ments of the markets, which are located in particular in such as airports and train stations, as well as burger bun Southeastern and Eastern Europe. The changes in food suppliers, for example. The catering sector is also suffering supply that can be observed there and the changes in the from the still restricted business operations in canteens and bakery markets, in particular, are directing interest to these restaurants. markets. Unfortunately, the legal framework conditions for However, the bottom line from the industry’s point of view is market entry or even for investments are often still unclear that bakeries have been able to weather this crisis pretty well at present. overall. Customers will once again use quality As indirect consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be longer-term changes in consumer behavior, which will more as an argument for their purchasby no means only affect the bread sector, but also the entire ing decisions, because it has become clear food sector. Digitalization and online ordering options will ‘pick up speed’ and as bakers, we will have to see how we get how important a 'plain loaf' is! our baguettes into the lunch packages of Lieferando & Co. Armin Juncker, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of German Plant Bakeries Another change in consumer behavior will result from the fact that the crisis has sharpened the view of the importance of basic foodstuffs in particular. Empty shelves in the superThe ambitious ‘Green Deal’ agenda set by the von der Leyen market or the bakery were unknown to all of us and literally Commission is triggering a number of important discusunimaginable. Customers will once again use quality as an sions. ‘From farm to fork’ captures the increasing imporargument for their purchasing decisions, because it has tance of environmental, ethical and social aspects. The become clear how important ‘plain bread’ is! sustainability of the food chain is high on the EU agenda and, therefore, also on AIBI’s agenda. AIBI was one of the bbi: What are colleagues from other national associations selected organizations that actively participated in the reporting to AIBI? multi-stakeholder process, from primary production to the Juncker: The impact on the bread and bakery market was consumer. AIBI has been involved in tackling the food quite comparable in other European countries. Overall, loss issue for many years and is a member of the relevant bread consumption declined in the COVID-19 year 2020, EU platform. ©A ss
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www.bakingbiscuit.com 05/2021
