PRODUCTION
Continuous expansion
D I T S C H H A S G R O W N S T R O N G LY I N T H E L A S T F E W Y E A R S . T H E C O M PA N Y W A N T S T O O P E N
F U RT H E R LO C AT I O N S I N G E R M A N Y, S W I T Z E R L A N D A N D E N G L A N D . TO M E E T T H E G R O W I N G
DE MAN D, DITSCH IS I NVE STI NG I N A N EW PRODUCTION LI N E, W H ICH WI LL B E I NCO RPO RATED
AT TH E ORAN I E N BAUM PRODUCTION SITE
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The two production factories in Mainz and Oranienbaum have room for further expansion
In addition to sales outlets, there are still growth opportunities in trade and export
The Ditsch GmbH Company, Mainz, Germany is considered to be Germany’s pretzel king. The business sold
around 194m of the knotted products in 2010. A total of 385m
lye products, pizzas and snacks left the two production
factories in Mainz and Oranienbaum. They were bought by
almost 200 licence partners with their sales outlets in Germany, together with the food retail and specialist wholesale.
Ditsch is currently expecting a total annual turnover of
EUR 113m in 2011 (EUR 50m sales to the trade and EUR
63m through its own branches). Trade Marketing Manager
Björn Tiemann explains that in so doing the company is
pursuing various growth strategies: “Firstly we want to continue to position our products as premium brands in Germany’s
food retail, and secondly we see growth markets abroad for
our lye baked products.”
Since 2001 Ditsch has operated with its affiliated company
Brezelkönig GmbH & Co. KG, Emmenbrück, which has 25
branches of its own in Switzerland. In addition, in 2006, the
company founded the English subsidiary, Ditsch Ltd., London,
with twelve sales outlets. Tiemann says, “Both businesses
are developing nicely.” Frozen goods for export are produced
by the factories in Germany, of which the Mainz works, the
company’s nucleus, predominantly manufactures dough
pieces for pretzels. Specialties such as pizzas, croissants or
filled products together with snacks and other small baked
goods come from the Oranienbaum works situated approx.
130 km from Berlin. A total of 460 employees work for the
company; both factories run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Jörg Behrens, works manager at the Oranienbaum factory,
explains the capacities: “In total Ditsch has ten lines, allowing
the processing of up to 11.2 t/hr of dough.” The Mainz works
has a production area of around 3,000 m2 and administration
offices measuring 2,300 m2. An area of 10,000 m2 is also
available for expansion.
In Oranienbaum, which has been operating since 1999, Jörg
Behrens is responsible for a total of 13,000 m2 (production
and storage) on a site area of 40,000 m 2. Pretzel twisting
machines made by the FRITSCH GmbH Company, Markt
Einersheim, with a servo drive and an hourly output of 12,000
pretzels were available to the staff from the start. A new line
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Ditsch relies particularly on robots in the production
The quality of the baked goods is monitored
New products such as an oat lye roll contribute to
area of the Oranienbaum works
constantly
sales growth
BAKING+BISCUIT ISSUE 03 2011
PRODUCTION
» Engineering your success «
Just keep things running
Codos®
12/25/2012
09/11/2013
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2012
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The dough for frozen pretzels is laminated to guarantee the high quality of the
baked goods
for the weight range from 90 to 160 g and an hourly capacity
of up to 12,000 pretzels followed in 2004. The next plant with
an hourly capacity of up to 16,000 pretzels came along in
2008. The seventh line to manufacture small baked goods was
commissioned in the summer of 2010. The new plant can
produce up to 20,000 bread rolls per hour in the weight range
from 40 to 130 g. Behrens says, “Line 8 is currently in the
planning stage.” The company’s planned investment volume
for 2011 is around EUR 14m. In this respect there is a special
focus on the automation area, for example, in the Oranienbaum factory Behrens uses almost exclusively robots with
image recognition and laser scanning to cut the dough pieces.
Steady expansion
Björn Tiemann explains that, “To achieve continuous further
growth, we not only invest in technology but also steadily enlarge our product range and also fulfil special requests. For
example, if a client wants hand-twisted pretzels, he can have
them.” At the same time Ditsch offers his trading partners
various stages of processing: frozen baked goods are available
as are ready-baked, pre-proofed or part-baked products. For
example, the trend in the catering area is towards readybaked products which the purchaser only needs to thaw out,
such as filled butter pretzels. Marketing Manager Tiemann
estimates that the European market for frozen baked goods
will grow moderately at 3–4 % per annum, so the company
does not forget the various branches in different areas. There are
high turnover sales outlets especially in the Rhine-Main regions
and in Hamburg and Berlin, although yet more sales could be
generated in the southern federal states of Bavaria and BadenWürttemberg; Ditsch is therefore planning additional locations
in these regions. Baguette sandwiches and sweet croissants
will also be marketed under the name “Freshbags” through a
sales outlet in Hanover. +++
Day after day, always the same quality with
consistent temperature and the same optimum
result. Codos ®, the continuous mixing and
kneading system of Zeppelin Reimelt. Around
the clock, the spirals perfectly mix all raw
materials and the kneading shafts ensure
a gentle handling. A success all along the line:
» Optimum product quality
» Energy savings up to 30%
» Quick recipe change
» Easy handling
See and read more about the Zeppelin Reimelt
Codos® System at our homepage:
www.zeppelin-systems.com
Zeppelin Reimelt GmbH
Messenhäuser Str. 37-45
63322 Rödermark, Germany
Tel. +49 6074 691-0
Fax +49 6074 691-208
[email protected]
BAKING+BISCUIT ISSUE 03 2011
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