How is delicious bread made? In today's large bakeries the production is hidden behind walls. But not at the Rothermel Bakery in Waghäusel-Wiesental in Baden-Württemberg. The subsidiary of REWE Group has opened its first transparent bakery (3 August 2010). "Backbühne" (baking stage) is the name of Rothermel's flagship, and it represents a new concept of the bakery. For customers it is like a stage where they can watch live as the master baker makes fresh bread and other baked goods. The "Rothermel Backbühne" brings back to life the baking tradition and combines it with state-of-the-art production processes.

In addition to the traditional baker's trade, sustainability is also an important part of company strategy. The raw materials are carefully chosen, preferably from local cultivation. The Rothermel Bakery does not use any ready-made mixtures or deep-frozen products for its baked products. With heat recovery and energy optimisation the company also contributes towards cutting the energy consumption of the production, and hence assumes responsibility for society and the environment.

"Buying bread is a question of trust. And trust is created through transparency. With the baking stage anyone who wants to can literally keep an eye on what is going on and follow the live spectacle of an age-old craft", commented Frank Möckel, managing director of the Glocken Bakery.

With its new branch store Rothermel is at the same time creating ten new jobs, eight of these in service and sales. Two master bakers ensure a broad selection of bread, backed rolls and biscuits made from more than 1,500 different recipes available in the German baker's trade. And it is no coincidence that the Germans are regarded as "Breadmaking World Champions".

Because of a changed consumption and eating behaviour more and more traditional family bakers are slowly but surely disappearing from town life. Small traditional bakers are closing down or being taken over and continued under new names. The Rothermel Bakery proves that there are alternatives. In February 2009 this traditional bakery was taken over by the Glocken Bakery, a production company of REWE Group, and continued under the same name. In this way REWE Group and the Glocken Bakery are demonstrating their solidarity and close affinity with the Kraichgau region. With its 377 employees the Rothermel Bakery is one of the biggest breadmaking companies in this region.