A bakery that endows meaning
In the organic bakery Märkisches Landbrot (Brandenburger Country Bread), in Berlin-Neukölln, profit is not at the center. “Our boss is the bread and we do anything to make sure he is well,” says CEO Joachim Weckmann of the management aspects of the company.
Of course, the bakery has more than just bread in mind. The Berlin-based company maintains high values in its corporate philosophy. This is not just for its product; management also feels committed to its people inside and outside the enterprise.
One of many examples of the company’s high ethical obligations was the case of a supplier facing bankruptcy with his mill. Märkisches Landbrot intervened. The bakery offered the miller a loan so that he could avoid personal bankruptcy. Besides that, the company also employed the miller to give him a chance to repay his debt.
One more example involves another organic bakery and, ironically, a competitor of Märkisches Landbrot. This bakery could not get additional credit from the bank for a new oven, so the Neukölln company offered the company the needed money despite the fact that after decades of construction work, Märkisches Landbrot has been debt-free only for the last three years.
Employees who work at midnight realize that the company cares about them. CEO Weckmann explains that at midnight the biorhythms of people are at their lowest. To accommodate this, the bakery provides for its employees free tea, coffee, bread, butter, milk, apples, and carrots. Nutrition is the core business of the company.
Based on employees’ requests, staff receives somewhat-strange-looking MBT shoes. According to staff, these shoes make the many hours of standing or running around more enjoyable. This is a small but human gesture.
Märkisches Landbrot does not seek to maximize its profits. The founder’s goal is to make healthy foods inexpensively available. By no means, though, does that mean a dumping strategy; it is one of the defined corporate goals that all employees are paid more than average. A few years ago, the debt burden was removed. The company added to the agreed-upon salary—depending on the overall development—an additional bonus payment of up to 30,000 Euros, which is proportionally distributed to all employees.
To enhance the well-being not just of the employees but of the bread, Osttiroler Traditional Stone Mills grind grain from the Brandenburg region every morning at 5 a.m. This gives consumers high transparency in terms of where the ingredients for the purchased bread are coming from. Whoever enters the name of the bread online sees immediately from which field the used grain came from.
German food law allows for up to 100 technical excipients to be added to the dough without the company having to declare them. CEO Weckman disagrees with this law. “Our bread contains only what it says on the product data sheet,” he says proudly. Generally, high transparency is crucial for the enterprise. Already in 2008, the Neukölln bakery was the first of its kind to present a nationwide valid CRS concept. In 1992 it introduced its first LCA. On the bakery’s website, you will find a wealth of in-house details, including anonymized sick days of employees, price calculations, and detailed ingredient lists for each product.
Eight years ago, Mayor Heinz Buschkowsky was motivated by the visible values of Märkischen Landbrot Neukölln and, therefore, helped the company make its philosophy visible to others. Buschkowsky used public money and helped Märkisches Landbrot set up a visiting room. Up to three groups of visitors are guided through the bakery daily. In 2011, a total of 7,000 people watched the operation. This makes for 145 guests per employee.
“Through this visiting program, our staff receives a lot of attention and recognition for their work,” enthuses Joachim Weckmann, who in the meantime was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for his virtues in the organic sector. Märkisches Landbrot has an above-average length of 11 years for employees to stay with the company. This is confirmation of the excellent culture of the enterprise, which is suitable for customers as well as employees.
Even people who are not directly connected to the company are considered by the Neuköllner bakery. With its 45 employees and annual sales of over six million Euros, Märkisches Landbrot supports nearly 30 social projects. The company pays great attention to balancing local and international projects. Its portfolio ranges from the neighborhood soup kitchen to bakeries in the Himalayas.
We like this project because it shows how much power meaningfulness in the business environment can have on stakeholders. This does not come without benefits: both the turnover rate, as well as the sick days, are well below the industry average.
