The bread I bake, the song I sing
Hiestand is world-famous for its croissants—but very few people know that
Hiestand is world-famous for its croissants - but only very few people know thatBy Andreas Panzeri When it comes to croissants, the baked goods manufacturer Hiestand from Schlieren is a world leader. However, very few Swiss people know that they don't just buy croissants from Hiestand at their local petrol station or five-star hotel in Singapore. The Hiestand brand is also usually hidden in the oven at the bakery around the corner. This is about to change.
A logoed biscuit would probably be the pinnacle of all measures to be able to brand a product without a brand. Of course, this is not up for discussion at Hiestand. Now that the wider public is becoming increasingly aware that the Hiestand bakery in Schlieren is the largest croissant producer on the planet, people in Schlieren are thinking about branding a little more loudly than before. Namely, how this exceptional reputation could be exploited with appropriate advertising communication. Until now, the company - which has 465 employees in Switzerland and over 1700 employees worldwide - has concentrated its marketing activities primarily in the B2B sector.
"Every second Swiss Beck is a Hiestand customer," says Michael Schai, who has been Head of Marketing at Alfred Hiestand's company for two years. The baked goods wholesaler can provide these B2B customers with more than 500 products. Most of these are deep-frozen specialties ranging from Berliners and Zwirbelbrot to pretzels and Danish pastries. These delicacies are then "more or less secretly" baked à la minute by the local bakery according to its current range.
B2B customers should sell Hiestand croissants with pride
The reason for this "external baking": "It's very difficult to bake our own bread because the requirements of the food inspectorate have become so strict, similar to the requirements for fat baked goods," says Schai. So Beck said to himself: "I buy such elaborate products in super quality, so I can concentrate on my specialties, such as regional bread."
The breakthrough for this business at Hiestand came with the pre-proofed dough piece. This means that the dough is left to ferment until it is ready to go into the oven. Instead, it is now put to sleep. Later, more and more bakeries, petrol station stores, hotels, supermarkets and canteens bake these dough pieces fresh at exactly the right time. Half-baked products are another focus of Hiestand's range. These are mainly delivered to places where time is of the essence and the infrastructure for the entire production process is not available. The product is ready baked, it just needs a little oven heat for the color.
Hiestand has so far done almost no advertising for these products. However, in order to position its quality products more strongly in future, the large bakery is already working with shop-in-shop concepts. At petrol stations and in similar convenience stores, uniformly recognizable self-service counters for Hiestand products are set up or the baked goods are sold in specially marked bags. The aim of these branding measures: Retailers should proudly show their customers that they offer their baked goods with the help of Hiestand's proven expertise.
A logoed biscuit would probably be the pinnacle of all measures to be able to brand a product without a brand. Of course, this is not up for discussion at Hiestand. Now that the wider public is becoming increasingly aware that the Hiestand bakery in Schlieren is the largest croissant producer on the planet, people in Schlieren are thinking about branding a little more loudly than before. Namely, how this exceptional reputation could be exploited with appropriate advertising communication. Until now, the company - which has 465 employees in Switzerland and over 1700 employees worldwide - has concentrated its marketing activities primarily in the B2B sector.
"Every second Swiss Beck is a Hiestand customer," says Michael Schai, who has been Head of Marketing at Alfred Hiestand's company for two years. The baked goods wholesaler can provide these B2B customers with more than 500 products. Most of these are deep-frozen specialties ranging from Berliners and Zwirbelbrot to pretzels and Danish pastries. These delicacies are then "more or less secretly" baked à la minute by the local bakery according to its current range.
B2B customers should sell Hiestand croissants with pride
The reason for this "external baking": "It's very difficult to bake our own bread because the requirements of the food inspectorate have become so strict, similar to the requirements for fat baked goods," says Schai. So Beck said to himself: "I buy such elaborate products in super quality, so I can concentrate on my specialties, such as regional bread."
The breakthrough for this business at Hiestand came with the pre-proofed dough piece. This means that the dough is left to ferment until it is ready to go into the oven. Instead, it is now put to sleep. Later, more and more bakeries, petrol station stores, hotels, supermarkets and canteens bake these dough pieces fresh at exactly the right time. Half-baked products are another focus of Hiestand's range. These are mainly delivered to places where time is of the essence and the infrastructure for the entire production process is not available. The product is ready baked, it just needs a little oven heat for the color.
Hiestand has so far done almost no advertising for these products. However, in order to position its quality products more strongly in future, the large bakery is already working with shop-in-shop concepts. At petrol stations and in similar convenience stores, uniformly recognizable self-service counters for Hiestand products are set up or the baked goods are sold in specially marked bags. The aim of these branding measures: Retailers should proudly show their customers that they offer their baked goods with the help of Hiestand's proven expertise.
