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come here, they do not just eat the food, they think deeply about it, they discuss it,” Bahlsen says. “We are trying to break down barriers
and it is not only people in the industry we want to convince, we want to start a conversation with the public.”
Rebel without a cause But while Bahlsen excitedly established her new venture in Berlin, not everyone was pleased with what she was doing—especially the Bahlsen’s board back in Hanover. “There was zero understanding why
something like this was needed and people thought I was calling into question the value of our existing business and the way they do things because I was building an entity that was rethinking it,” she says. “We sell biscuits and cakes that use
flour, sugar and eggs, but I was trying to find alternatives to flours, sugars, and sustainable packaging—they didn’t get it.” There was no reasoning
with the team, Bahlsen says. Getting HERMANN’S off the ground was down to the fact she had complete backing from her father, who had always been open to new ideas. “What is special about
family companies is that both my father and I, all we truly care about is sustaining this business long term and creating a business that endures beyond our generation,” she says. “There were constant exchanges with my
father and constant reassurances that ‘Yes, I was calling his business into question, but I was doing it in the interest of the whole Bahlsen Group’. “There was no way that I could convince
our existing business to back me.” But once HERMANN’S was up and
running things started to change. “Once HERMANN’S was not just
an idea, but something you could see, engage with, and actually taste, that was
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CAMPDENFB.COM ISSUE 75 | 2019
We sell biscuits and cakes that use flour, sugar and eggs, but I was trying to find alternatives to flours, sugars, and sustainable packaging they didn´t get it
the moment our team back at home [in Hanover] got interested,” she says. Such was the board’s turnaround, HERMANN’S was
Top:
HERMANN’S restaurant is the star of the show, and Bahlsen uses it to test new creations on consumers and host guest chefs
Below: Bahlsen works regularly with two coaches to challenge her thinking and strategy
quickly brought into the family business, and a separate innovation arm, TET Ventures, was established to invest in new innovation companies, and launch its own innovative products. “Bahlsen is now set up like Google is—on one hand
you have the core business that is making money and you have the other, in our case TET Ventures, that focuses on exploring new business models that hopefully become your future core business,” she says.
Stepping up Surprisingly for Bahlsen, this whirlwind entry into her family’s business came more naturally than she ever thought possible. Looking back, however, she says the relationship with her father, and how they interacted, sowed the seeds for her eventual role. “I remember when I was 15 and
on summer holidays in the US, my father and I used to wander around the supermarkets and discuss packaging design, talk about new products and
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