Ms. Schliephake-Burchardt, you are not only a master confectioner, author, lecturer and well-known from TV, but also the head of the Hamburg confectioners' guild. Can you tell us what has changed in the baking industry?

When I started my apprenticeship in 1989, people knew the pastry shops in their own town. Customers were also satisfied with what was offered, as long as the quality was good. Now the industry has become comparable. And there is also a lot of information for consumers through the Internet. Customers today expect besides quality, also variety and diversity. This has brought about a change in the baking industry. Added to this was the Corona crisis, which again required a rethink.

What are the current challenges?

There are many challenges. One of them is to inspire customers. This is not just about presenting the individual pastry; I think it's about the whole thing. Storytelling is not just the issue in social media now, it also applies to the sale of baked goods. That means I must tell a story and the story is not just on the plate, it encompasses the whole business. This has become even more important now in the post-Corona era.

What trends can we expect for the baking industry?

I believe that the demand for gluten-free and vegan baked goods in bakeries and confectioneries will increase. This affects us confectioners particularly massively. This is because it is not possible to simply exchange one ingredient and replace it with another; instead, the entire recipes for the baked goods must be changed. Many colleagues have already been working on this for some time, so that the range of gluten-free and vegan cakes and tarts will continue to grow steadily.