Bäko-Zentrale eG: rushing towards the future in big steps

Duisburg / DE. (eb) It is not only in the German economy that there is agreement that the 2022 business year was a difficult year with unprecedented challenges. It was certainly not easy. But anyone who regularly reads financial reports quickly comes to the conclusion that there can be a direct link between timely digitalisation and business success. Bäko-Zentrale eG, the umbrella organisation of the cooperative specialist wholesale trade for craft bakers and craft confectioners in Germany and Austria, has in any case committed itself to change in good time and set an example, not least with its 2021 strategy for the future. The comrades confirmed the path they had taken for the first time in 2022, when the general assembly in Neu Isenburg was pleased not only with the good business figures of 2021, but also with the successful departure into a new era. What a relief.

Back to the 2022 business year with its unprecedented challenges: «Change» is always also an act of liberation – in Bäko terms, far-reaching «Change Management». In any case, in 2022 the comrades were already so far freed from old ballast, inspired by new ideas and familiar with new possibilities that business went extraordinarily well. The total turnover of Bäko-Zentrale eG in 2022 amounts to 1.71 billion euros with an increase of plus 16.8 percent compared to the previous year. This means that the comrades can keep up very well with stubborn inflation. The inflation rate in 2022 was 7.9 percent on average. In terms of food alone, the consumer price index in 2022 was plus 16 to 20 percent over the previous year. Strict cost management will have contributed to the fact that the comrades can report a surplus of 1.52 million euros in their annual result. Compensation to the regional cooperatives rose to a record level of 30.8 million euros – up 39.6 percent compared to 2021. The 2023 General Assembly in Kamp-Lintfort (Left Lower Rhine) therefore decided, not without pride, on an attractive dividend payout of seven percent. What joy at an extraordinarily successful year. And so many new ideas for the future.

Interested parties can find the complete Annual Report 2022 of Bäko-Zentrale eG interactively at geschaeftsbericht.baeko.de (German only). In addition to the «Milestones achieved in 2022», the offer once again recalls the «Corporate strategy milestones in 2021» and provides an outlook on «Further milestones in 2023/2024.» In addition, the annual report 2022 is available for download in the usual linear reading format as a PDF file (German only). On backnetz.eu interested parties find also a five-page summary (PDF | German only) of Bäko Zentrale’s annual report 2022.