Itinerant trade saved Lubusz bakers from disaster

Handel obwoźny uratował lubuskich piekarzy od klęski

ANTERS Bakery & Confectionery from Jabłonowo near Żagań in the Lubuskie province is a family business, founded in 1980 by the father of Mr. Arkadiusz Antczak, the current owner of the enterprise. But today, the trace of this initiative almost disappeared.

– When my wife and I took over the company from my parents in 2016, we had a plan to have 20 of our own company stores and to base our sales only on our own points. We slowly organized this network, but… in 2020, due to the pandemic, the retail market in terms of bread and confectionery trade completely collapsed in our region. People stayed at home, started baking bread themselves, and no one thought about buying sweets. It was really very difficult to predict any sales. We had to close some stores – Arkadiusz Antczak recalls in an interview with farmer.pl.

photo: A. Kozłowska / farmer.pl

The economics of the pandemic have proven to be merciless for owners.

– This forced us to rethink our business and make slightly different decisions about the future – admitted Mr. Arkadiusz.

Selling ANTERS products to local large-scale stores (retail chains) was out of the question, after the not-so-good, even disastrous, previous experiences of the senior family. Thinking about building new distribution channels, the young bakers decided that developing a network of their own company stores is OK and can always happen, but they also need to start thinking in other categories. First of all, you need to take into account the fact that customers increasingly value their time and often prefer to shop in one place, where they have all the necessary assortment at their fingertips. In addition, these customers are increasingly aware of the quality of the food they buy and increasingly demanding when it comes to this quality.

– From 2022, we started selling our products at fairs (markets) with so-called healthy food. This was our beginning – we went out to the customer with direct sales. To a conscious customer who was able to appreciate the quality and accept a slightly higher price. Of course, this involved the purchase of appropriate equipment (tables, a tent, a delivery truck) so that this trade could take place at all, but looking back from the perspective of three years, it brought results and we believe that this is a very good direction for our development – said Mr. Arkadiusz.

Arkadiusz Antczak helped his father in the bakery since he was a child, photo: A.Kozłowska / farmer.pl

Currently, bakers from Jabłonowo "serve" several markets and all the surrounding permanent or cyclical outdoor events organized with the aim of promoting traditional, regional, local products, including those in neighboring provinces. They were also present this year in Paris, during the promotion of the Polish offer in the field of agri-food processing at the Olympics.

– Although this form of activity requires much more work and commitment from us (work not only during the week, but also almost every Saturday and Sunday) and is burdened with risk (due to the weather), we are very pleased with the revenues achieved from selling our products in this way – admitted Mr. Arkadiusz.

He added that these revenues are even better than those generated by ANTERS company stores (currently there are 12 of them). Mr. Antczak also does not hide the fact that the dynamically operating Lubuskie Centrum Produktu Regionalnego in the region plays a very important role in the development of the business, thanks to which the entrepreneur can precisely plan the calendar of events in which he wants to participate.

– I also get a lot of "fun" out of it. I really like talking to customers about my products, how they are manufactured, etc., educating them in this area – laughs Mr. Arkadiusz.

This positive attitude towards people and the desire to share the knowledge acquired may soon be transformed into a new venture. The young bakers are thinking about organizing a place for permanent workshops for children in the series "from grain to loaf". We keep our fingers crossed for the success of this project!

photo: A.Kozłowska / farmer.pl

The Antczak family's initiative – continuing the family craft traditions through direct sales – was entered into this year's 24th edition of the "Way to Success" competition, organized by the Agricultural Advisory Center in Brwinów in the individual/family category. Farmer has been the media patron of this competition for years.