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Traditional bakery in Laupheim closes – 50 jobs at risk!
The traditional Mäschle bakery in Biberach is closing all branches due to insolvency and economic difficulties.
Traditional bakery in Laupheim closes – 50 jobs at risk!
These are difficult times for the baked goods industry, especially for the traditional bakery Konditorei Mäschle GmbH & Co. KG, which will cease operations at the end of the month. The reason for this drastic decision is economic difficulties and the insolvency of the company, such as Schwäbische.de reported. The insolvency proceedings were opened by the Ravensburg district court on October 1, 2025 due to insolvency and excessive indebtedness.
There is no good news for the approximately 50 employees. They were officially informed of the layoffs on Tuesday. At a meeting on Monday, creditors unanimously agreed to close all remaining five branches. This is the sad conclusion to a negative development that began in spring 2024 with the filing of self-administration insolvency. After the name change to a GmbH, the branch network was reduced from 15 to 6 locations and in January 2025 the branch in Ehingen had to close.
Difficult conditions
The bakery is not alone. The entire bakery market in Germany is struggling with enormous challenges, such as: Merkur.de shows. More and more bakeries are faced with increasing competition from large chains and supermarkets, which makes the economic situation even more difficult. The energy price crisis has further exacerbated the situation in recent years.
A worrying trend is the decline in business numbers in the bakery trade. Since 2013, the number of bakeries in Germany has fallen from 13,171 to around 9,242. The number of employees is also suffering: over 20,000 jobs have been lost in the last ten years. The industry is facing structural change, which is accompanied by a massive shortage of skilled workers Böckler.de reported.
Future outlook
Where is the industry heading? In 2023, the bakery industry's total sales rose to 21.8 billion euros, but despite these figures, the future is uncertain. There is positive news for some locations where investors could also support one of the traditional companies, the Sternenbäckerei from Hechingen. But while some branches will now have to be closed, like the Mäschle confectionery, there is also hope for takeovers in other regions.
Despite the sinking ships, there are also bright spots: the number of trainee bakers increased by 11.4% in 2024. It's time to make the industry more attractive. Better working conditions, flexible working hours and a sharper focus on skilled workers could help to overcome the challenges and retain the workforce in the long term.
The question now remains as to how many more traditional bakeries will follow this development and whether the affected employees will be able to quickly regain their footing.