Baking & Snack - November 2004 - 31

and other retailers," Mr. Ruetz said.
To accommodate the need for freshly baked breads at
local shops, Der Bäcker Ruetz outputs 15% to 20% of
total volume in frozen par-baked (termed "pre-proofed"
and "pre-baked" in Europe) form. "We could see that
quickly increasing to 20% or 40%," Mr. Ruetz said. "We
use pre-proofed in our own shops, so that the mix is 60%
finished from the main bakery and 40% baked on site.
"We are one of the few bakeries to bake a full line of
products: 250 different bread and roll varieties a day, not
counting the sweets," he continued. The baker makes no
pan breads, and most of its products are sold as 500-g to
600-g (17 to 21 oz) loaves, averaging 2,50 (US$3.00) each.

ᮡ A flexible "front end" allows the bakery to make as many as 30 different
products on the same line.
With a total population of 8 million people, Austria has about 2,000 bakeries in all. "And the number
shrinks every year," Mr. Ruetz noted. "The average size
is about 400,000 (US$495,000) in annual turnover.
This is really too small to automate. The automation
threshold I judge to be 1 to 2 million (US$1.3 to
2.5 million)." In contrast, Der Bäcker Ruetz has an annual turnover of 35 million (US$44 million).
With its main production facility located in a suburb
of Innsbruck and a second facility at St. Anton am Arlberg, high in the Alps near the Arlberg Pass, Der Bäcker
Ruetz supplies 55 company-operated shops in western
Austria. This area is known as the Tyrol and also encompasses part of northern Italy. The bakery's service radius
is roughly 200 km (125 miles).
"This region is primarily agricultural, with some notable
differences," said Mr. Ruetz. "The village of Kematen is only
2,500 people, and Innsbruck's population is about 110,000.
In all, there are roughly 700,000 people in the Tyrol, from
which we reach nearly 400,000, but we get nearly two million tourists and ski vacationers a year, too."
Der Bäcker Ruetz shops take roughly 55% of the bakery's
volume, while the other 45% goes to retail locations, including the discounters that move an increasing share of bakery
sales in Austria as well as the rest of Western Europe.
The company uses Der Bäcker Ruetz as its main
brand, with others such as Der Gastliche Bäcker for its
own shops. "By using different brands and private labels
- and sometimes, no label at all - we are able to deliver
products to 'hard' discounters as well as 'soft" discounters

34 / BAKING & SNACK / November 2004

A FAMILY BUSINESS. Established at Kematen in 1899 by
Christian's great-grandfather Ferdinand Ruetz, the bakery
started out as a small business in a typical village center location. Christian's father, Rudolf Ruetz transformed it into
the region's leading bakery and moved production operations to its current location on the outskirts of town.
Christian attended university in the United States in
the Pacific Northwest and worked at several bakeries in
the area before returning to Austria. In 1986, he became
head of the business, which was then a medium-sized
enterprise with 70 employees. He soon transformed
both the company's marketing approach and its base of
production technology. He brought on board partner
Norbert Fagschlunger and expanded the business.
"Our company actually goes back to 1822," Mr. Ruetz
said. "In 1899 it came into my family, and we have the
fifth generation now working here: My daughter Alexandra is a sales manager for 20 of our shops, and my son
Christain is working in the bakery now. And we still have
a 13-year-old son Benedikt at home."
In addition to modern marketing techniques and
state-of-the-art production equipment, Mr. Ruetz also
brought a finely tuned craftsman's sensibility to the
family bakery. Firmly believing in bread as the natural
foundation for a healthful diet and pleasurable life, he
directed the company along a new path leading back to
old traditions. For example, Der Bäcker Ruetz converted
all its production at the Kematen facility to sourdough
methods, eliminating chemical improvers on principle.
The company has also been careful to maintain peak
sanitation, hygiene and food safety procedures. It implemented a full HACCP program in 1996 that reaches from
receiving to the final metal detector and beyond.
Honors frequently rain down upon Der Bäcker Ruetz's
products and marketing programs. In 2003, the bakery
swept the 12th International Bread Competition held at
Wels, Austria, winning the most medals among the 149
competing companies from Austria, Czech Republic,
Germany, Hungary and Switzerland. It won its first gold
medal at the 1990 competition. In 1997, Der Bäcker Ru-

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