The pretzel baker Ditsch is on a growth path: The Mainz-based company wants to significantly expand its factories. It spends millions on this.
The Mainz bakery chain Ditsch wants to continue to grow – and is planning massive investments. As several media reports, Ditsch would like to expand his second plant in Oranienbaum, Saxony-Anhalt, for a total of 30 million euros.
The goal: to bake more than a billion pretzels and rolls a year at the location. So far, 650 employees there have produced around 620 million pretzels, pretzel sticks and pizzas.
First, an existing production line will be completely renovated, company spokesman Günther Lindinger told MDR. It will then be possible to produce four times more pretzels and pretzels on this system, says Lindinger. He further told the “Bild” newspaper: “Our goal is initially a good billion, but we can increase production even further if necessary.”
But the pretzel factory also plans to grow in the USA. A new plant will go into operation in Cincinnati, Ohio, in early November. The investments amount to more than 60 million euros, writes “Bild”. It is primarily so-called “Pretzel Bites” that roll off the production line here. These are mini pretzels that are very popular in the USA at sporting events or concerts.
Ditsch is the world’s largest producer of pretzels. Ditsch baked goods are even part of the breakfast menu in many Asian hotels. These are imported frozen and baked on site.
In 1919, Wilhelm Ditsch founded his pretzel bakery in Mainz and sold his goods at folk festivals. The first bakery shops were added in train stations in the 1980s. There are now around 200 branches – and Ditsch belongs to the Swiss food group Valora.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of the text stated that Ditsch wanted to produce more than 1 billion pretzels a day. But that was incorrect. The information referred to the year.