Adding a twist: JJ Food Solutions rolls out German pretzels to Brazilian consumers

Santo Amaro-based JJ Food Solutions, owned by Israeli entrepreneur Joseph Fadida, will sell Ditsch’s classic pretzels, but also other Ditsch products, such as frozen pizzas and croissants.

Josiane Batista, JJ Food Solutions’ director, told BakeryandSnacks.com: “Here in Brazil, JJ Food Solutions is the official representative of Ditsch, and we sell all of their products, principally to hotel chains, franchises, coffee houses, buffets, among other establishments in the food service business​”.

All of the products sold by JJ Food Solutions are produced in the Ditsch production plant in Germany and transported frozen to the Brazilian company’s distribution center in São Paulo.

Brazilians favor croissants​

JJ Food Solutions started testing Ditsch frozen bakery products back in 2011 in specialized food stands that sold Ditsch pretzels. “It was an excellent experience to get to know the market and its expectations from the products. The acceptance was fantastic … and interest for other Ditsch products grew, including from other customers such as German-type restaurants, hotels and buffets. The expectation is that growth will be gradual and sales are expected to increase initially at around 30% per year​,” said Batista.

Brazilian customers demonstrated their greatest interest for Ditsch rolled croissants, which are less fatty and have greater flavour and softness, with optional fillings that Brazilian consumers enjoy - such as ham or chocolate. “What really draws the consumer’s attention to the Ditsch croissant is that it is very light. This feature is our great advantage, light, soft, dry and very tasty​,” said Batista.

The current priority for JJ Food Solutions is to expand its offer to end consumers who will also be able to purchase products from the entire line of premium frozen bakery products, be it in individual packaging or larger packages in the retail market.

“We have great expectations, principally because the entire bakery market is undergoing changes that are beneficial for us. The current trend is mostly towards ‘boutique bakeries’, which have a smaller structure than the traditional [bakeries], which purchase frozen bakery products and do not need to have production situated in-house, especially as they do not have a lot of room. They just have enough space to bake and to serve. As they need to maintain quality, Ditsch fits in this [scenario] really well​,” explained the JJ Food Solutions director.

Market testing ​

JJ Food Solutions has logistical capacity to serve the entire Brazilian market, but it confirmed it is currently negotiating with regional distributors in the southern, central-west, and northeast regions of Brazil in order to better attend consumers in these regions. The company denied that it is currently eyeing any other Latin American markets for possible expansion.

The company launched a specialized franchise Rei do Pretzel (Pretzel King) back in 2012, which was created to test acceptance of Ditsch products in the Brazilian market. “The experience was very positive and surprising, because based on it we were able to study and develop some strategies. Hence, we concluded that we needed to make some modifications to the operation, and these [modifications] are underway. As a result, we preferred to close the food stands based on the anterior model and we will come back with a new identity soon, but it will involve food kiosks and shops​,” said Batista.

Germany’s Ditsch, which today has more than 400 employees, is based in Mainz. There are more than 200 Ditsch shops in Germany today, but the company also offers a large selection of deep-frozen pretzel-dough pastries, croissants and pizzas in supermarkets.