Company history

The demand for Westphalian pumpernickel continues growing. The development of a pasteurisation method for bread in tins made it possible to transport and ship sliced pumpernickel loaves over long distances. In 1910, Wilhelm Mestemacher built a modern bakery in Gütersloh (Am Anger 16), which specialises in Westphalian pumpernickel. 

The 9-fold mother and entrepreneur, Sophie Mestemacher, guides the company through the challenging times of the 1st World War. 

In 1924, the costly registration of the Mestemacher trademark with the patent office is realised. For the first time ever, advertising investments are made with the goal of promoting sales. 

The son of Sophie Mestemacher, Ernst Mestemacher, technical director of a Berlin mechanical engineering company, briefly manages the business of the managerless pumpernickel factory from afar. Under the auspices of her uncle Ernst, the 19-year-old granddaughter of Wilhelm and Sophie Mestemacher, Lore Mestemacher, is trained in production technology in her grandparents‘ business. 

Klara Grabemann, née Mestemacher, bolsters the ailing pumpernickel bakery with equity. She left her open trading company shares to her niece, Lore Mestemacher. 

The bread factory is purchased by the brothers Albert and Fritz Detmers in 1985, owner of another tradition-steeped bakery in Bielefeld-Jöllenbeck. When the brothers bought Mestemacher, they sell their Detmers plant bakery to what was then Wendeln delivery plant bakery. 

As a result, the Gütersloh-based firm becomes the focus of Albert and Prof Dr Ulrike as well as Fritz and Helma Detmers. 

The entrepreneurial couples, Albert and Prof Dr Ulrike Detmers, née Weber, as well as Fritz and Helma Detmers, née Strehle, each purchase 50% of Modersohn‘s Mühlen- und Backbetrieb GmbH in Lippstadt, which has existed since 1876. 

In 1994, the long-standing business cooperation of the entrepreneurial couple, Albert and Prof Dr Ulrike Detmers, intensifies. Together with their brother and brother-in-law, Fritz Detmers, they implement further innovations both inside and outside of the company. Together with Helma Detmers, co-partner of Mestemacher, the couple stand for modern corporate management. The new “bread and art” packaging, “panem et artes”, was born from an idea conceptualised by the artist Ippazio Fracasso- Baacke. Fracasso-Baacke‘s works of art are collected by the entrepreneurial couple, Albert and Ulrike. The bread art decorative box has been causing a furore for years. Annually changing printed paintings encourage the consumers‘ passion for collecting. 

Additional growth drivers of the next years 

Additional product innovations, improvements in product qualities, technical innovations, more company acquisitions, such as the purchase of Aerzener Brot und Kuchen GmbH in 2002, as well as advertising and PR investments spur steady growth. The company has also accelerated its expansion by boosting its capacity and adding further products to its portfolio, such as frozen cakes, crispbread, muesli and international bread specialities like naan, pita, organic, and standard wraps, focaccia, organic spelt toast, as well as organic wholemeal wheat toast. The lifestyle bakery enjoys a sound international reputation and growing demand. 

 

In 2020, the Mestemacher Group plant bakery achieves a net sales record of 16% with hygienically packaged, unopened long-life bread specialities. The Group‘s net sales amount to 147.4 million euros. In 2020, the family business invested 3.9 million euros geared to long-term profitability. 

The investments provide further benefits for product qualities, automation, rationalisation, capacity expansion as well as the humanisation of work. The Group has a total of 649 employees. The export share is around 34 %. 77 % of export sales are generated in the member states of the European Union. Mestemacher has an export volume sold to third countries of 16 %. Mestemacher supplies 7 % self-service packed breads and baked goods to European countries outside the EU.