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I agreeToday, Afinum 8 has sold its investment in Zeit für Brot after partnering with the founder, Dirk Steiger, at the end of 2018. Under the joint ownership, sales of Zeit für Brot have grown by more than 500% and the company has been built up and developed to one of Germany’s fastest growing organic food concepts.
The exit reflects the third exit for the Afinum 8 fund, which in total have returned more than 4x their initial investments to investors. In order to build on Afinum’s experience and relationship with Zeit für Brot, Afinum 9 was asked to join the new consortium which consists of the founder as well as Unigestion S.A., a global independent specialist asset manager.
Zeit für Brot is an organic premium bakery concept with numerous locations in major cities across Germany. The Company brings the bakery craftsmanship back into the city, offering customers an authentic experience. The experience-led bakery concept is based on organic products, locally sourced ingredients, on-site open bakehouses, craftsmanship and sustainability. The amalgamation of these factors leads to ongoing high demand, strong customer satisfaction and loyalty. Besides, sales from in-store consumption and takeaways, Zeit für Brot is also delivering its products to selected organic food retail chains as well as to customers in the dynamic quick-commerce space.
In view of the growth strategy going forward, Afinum and Dirk Steiger have now decided to team up with Unigestion as a strong financial and strategic partner. The intention is to continue Zeit für Brot’s strategy of sustainable growth while maintaining its highest quality and sustainability standards. Over the coming years new stores are scheduled to open also in smaller German cities, such as Heidelberg and Potsdam, but also internationally, where priority target-markets have been identified. After completing the organisational build-up and establishing the next management generation, Dirk Steiger has handed over his CEO position and will dedicate his resources to the international expansion, where a first store is scheduled to open by the end of this year.
Dirk Steiger, founder and co-owner of Zeit für Brot, comments: “Our aim and vision are to build, roll-out and internationalize our concept further, making our product and experience offering accessible to more people. The new partnership with Unigestion enables us to continue concentrating on executing our strategy while preserving our trusted and successful growth partnership with the Afinum team.”