It is a fine example of successful economic development for a traditional Offenbach family business: After a long and difficult search, Konditorei und Bäckerei Kress can now announce that it has found a suitable location for its new production facility. The bakery company was founded in 1976 in Offenbach's Waldstraße and is now run by the second generation of the two sons of founder and master confectioner Wolfgang Kreß.
"The production site in Buchrainweg, which has been in use since 1993, is bursting at the seams and no longer meets today's standards in terms of efficiency and functionality," says Managing Director and Production Manager Alexander Kreß. There is no scope for expansion at the current site, which posed a huge threat to the continued production of the locally produced baked goods that are so popular in Offenbach and the surrounding area. There was therefore an urgent need for action. It was extremely important to the two business owners to remain loyal to the location after all these years. After all, it is not just the bakery family itself that has been rooted in Offenbach for decades: the more than 50 employees in the bakery and the five branches are also all based in the city. The family business also supplies numerous public and private daycare centers, three schools, two retirement homes and a hospital. The company donates leftover baked goods to institutions such as the food rescue service and a social service.
When the company's management approached Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke and the Economic Development Agency with the request for support in finding a new location, numerous discussions were held to find possible solutions to secure the future of the long-established company in Offenbach.
"For us, successful business development doesn't just mean bringing new companies to Offenbach. It is extremely important to my business development team and to me personally to always be available to companies that are already based here. We don't just look at new companies. We also want to provide the best possible support to those that are already here, so that they have all the conditions here in Offenbach that they need for successful further development and ideally, of course, even growth," says Lord Mayor Schwenke.
The solution was finally found in a previously unused municipal property in the Bieber-Waldhof industrial estate, which is characterized by production companies and which the city is now selling to the specialist bakery company. This property, which has been unused for years, is ideally suited for the construction of a new, modern bakery, which is what the Kreß brothers have in mind: "Our aim is to expand our capacities to such an extent that we can not only further increase the quality of our goods with new technology. In the long term, we would like to switch production to four days a week, introduce daytime production instead of night shifts and, as part of this, take on new employees and trainees for the confectionery and bakery trades. Further branch locations in Offenbach and the surrounding area are being planned," says Managing Director and Head of Company Administration Gilbert Kreß.
Mayor Schwenke and the Offenbach Economic Development Agency are delighted with the latest development: "This is a very good opportunity for the Kress bakery to develop at its home location and further expand its production capacities. In addition, all jobs at the bakery can be secured and even more can be created in the future. And, this is also important to me, we always need jobs for different levels of qualification - from journeymen to graduates," says Schwenke. He continued: "The example of the Kress bakery shows that we always do our best to find promising solutions for companies in Offenbach. Unfortunately, however, we hardly have any municipal land left for commercial use in Offenbach. That's why it's so important to use the master plan to protect all remaining private commercial sites as areas for companies."
A small side note for Offenbach enthusiasts: The Kress brothers and Mayor Schwenke achieved the decisive breakthrough when a family celebration of the Kress family and Carlo Enders' 90th birthday took place in the same pub - and they spontaneously put their heads together and thought about it again.
