A family business and a passion for baking for an entire century: Griesson - de Beukelaer celebrates its anniversary

Griesson - de Beukelaer (GdB) is celebrating a special anniver-sary this year, for it was in 1924 that Hans Gries founded the company Griesson. The family-owned company headquartered in the Rhineland-Palatinate town of Polch has been a byword for sustainable entrepreneurship, combining craftsman-ship with technology, and tradition with modernity for 100 years now. ‘We are cele-brating the first century of Griesson - de Beukelaer in 2024 and looking back with gratitude on our history – a history which has been influenced and shaped by cou-rageous and far-sighted entrepreneurial decisions, especially those of our father Heinz Gries,’ says Susanne Gries, Chair of the Foundation Board of the Gottlieb Anton Foundation. ‘Our tradition, our singleness of purpose and our values are the hallmarks of our family business, which we are taking to ever new levels through extensive investments at all our locations.’ With its widely known brands Griesson, De Beukelaer, Prinzen Rolle, LEICHT&CROSS and Cereola, Griesson - de Beuke-laer is today one of the foremost companies in the European market for sweet and savoury baked goods. ‘The commitment and the passion of our staff, the trust our customers place in us and the enthusiasm of shoppers for our products form the foundation for a bright future,’ emphasises co-shareholder Andreas Land. 

Hans Gries established the company Griesson in 1924 and decided to expand his parents’ bakery business with a gingerbread factory – a groundbreaking entrepre-neurial decision which from that day on was to engender the potential for growth. His move saw machines replacing the manual work of the time. The young business grew and with it the number of employees. 

New growth thanks to year-round ranges and the Soft Cake 
Another milestone came when Heinz Gries took over the management of the com-pany in 1966. After his father’s death, he gave the development of the business fresh momentum with the construction of a new factory in Polch, the corporate headquarters today, and the company was then able to produce all-season ranges following the factory’s inauguration in 1969. From then on, Griesson no longer needed to rely on pre- Christmas sales and made products which were in demand throughout the year. One of these was the Griesson Soft Cake, which became an enduring favourite after its launch in 1977 and is still one of the most successful and important products in the range. 

The groundbreaking 90s: a new factory in Thuringia and a merger 
The 1990s proved to be groundbreaking for GdB’s further growth, for it was after German reunification that Heinz Gries then took the major decision to build a new biscuit factory in the Thuringian town of Kahla. Literally ‘on a greenfield site’, he found the perfect conditions and the space he needed to set up clearly structured production lines. 1993 saw the first Griesson Soft Cakes leaving the factory gates. To this very day, the Kahla site is one of the most modern biscuit factories anywhere in Europe, manufacturing not only Griesson Soft Cakes but also its Cookies and sandwich cookies like the well-known brand Prinzen Rolle. The fact that one of Germany’s best-loved biscuits, the Prinzen Rolle, comes from GdB is attributable to a clever decision made by Heinz Gries just a few years later. As part of an exemplary succession arrangement, Andreas Land joined the company as managing partner in 1998 and, together with Heinz Gries, shaped the further development of GdB in the following decades. Griesson then merged with the Danone subsidiary General Bis-cuits Germany and Austria in 1999 to form Griesson - de Beukelaer GmbH & Co. KG. Along with the Prinzen Rolle, strong brands such as De Beukelaer and LEICHT&CROSS were also integrated. Andreas Land coming on board the family business is still seen as a textbook case of a successful corporate succession – in 2011, the two were named ‘Family Entrepreneurs of the Year’ by the INTES Acade-my for Family Businesses and the magazine ‘Impulse’. 

Site in Saxony and establishment of the family foundation
In 2008, the year in which Heinz Gries retired from operational management, the company Wurzener Dauerbackwaren became part of the corporate family. GdB took over the Saxony-based baked-goods manufacturer and extended its range to in-clude ice cream cones, refreshment sticks, and cakes and pastries. 2014 marked an important year for GdB continuing as a family business: Heinz Gries transferred his shares to the Gottlieb Anton Foundation he had set up. In this way, he ensured dur-ing his lifetime the succession of GdB’s shareholding and independence for gener-ations to come. ‘Stability and reliability, including towards employees, are what characterise a family business,’ says shareholder Andreas Land. ‘The fact that we have delivered in this respect for over 100 years makes us all a little proud. Every day, we show yet again that craftsmanship and state-of-the-art technology, that tradi-tion and modernity are not opposites but exactly the ingredients needed to be suc-cessful over such a long period of time.’ 

Outlook: into the future with good and sustainable ideas
GdB is rooted in its sites in Polch, Kahla and Wurzen and has a 1,800-strong work-force. As an employer with secure jobs in a sustainable and crisis-proof sector, the company continually invests in equipping and expanding its locations. ‘Steadfast-ness and solid long-term prospects have made us successful as a family-run busi-ness, even in challenging times,’ says Dany Schmidt, Chairman of the Management Board. ‘Looking boldly ahead, and with good ideas, and above all with our motivated and highly qualified team, we want to continue to shape the future of the sweet and savoury baked goods market.’ This also includes new product concepts which GdB has developed in recent years, these being increasingly with sustainability in mind as well – through more ecological packaging or sustainable ingredients. ‘We’re not standing still,’ says Dany Schmidt. ‘We pick up on consumer trends and this is in-strumental in making our company fit for the future.’