Without no doubt, the name BAKERS BISCUITS is a household name in the African continent. It has a special connection to South Africa because that’s where the business originated.
Many are familiar with the fine range of packeted biscuits Bakers has produced for many years. The company produces plain, chocolate filled and flavoured biscuits. Bakers’ products are manufactured in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban.
Bakers is part of National Brands Limited, an FMCG company which is a subsidiary of AVI Limited, a JSE listed company based in Sandton.
Background
At the age of 26, John Frederick Baumann boarded the John Bright ship at Hull on the eastern coast of England, and sailed to South Africa.
He arrived at a Durban village, and 3 months later in 1851, he opened his first business as a bread baker and grocery store, where he operated this store for many years.
In 1879, Frederick visited England where he met up his with his nephew, John Michael Leonard Baumann, and suggested that he emigrate to South Africa with him.
Michael had experience of baking. He previously left his native village of Niederstetten in Germany at the age of 16, and moved to London where he worked as a baker’s assistant before acquiring his own bakery business.
In 1881, he arrived in Durban alongside his wife, and joined his uncle’s business.
L. Baumann & Co.
5 years later, when the lease on their premises expired, Michael acquired the bakery operations from his uncle. He then bought a site at the corner of Brickhill Road & West Street, and built a small building.
In 1885, he bought a hand operated biscuit machine from another baker named Plowright for £65. The machine produced ‘dry’ biscuits for sale to army garrisons and ships.
In 1895, he purchased another biscuit machine which was more advanced. This allowed him to manufacture fancy biscuits such as Marie and Ginger Nuts.
He started running the business under the name of L. Baumann & Co. And also arranged 4 ads to be placed in the local newspaper, Natal Mercury, showing a photo of the building and the price list set out underneath it.
Bakers
The outbreak of the First World War proved to be an unfortunate chapter in the history of L. Bauman & Co. The war raised anti-German sentiment worldwide, and this also extended to Durban – this resulted in many German properties being attacked.
Michael was a naturalized British citizen, a prominent freemason, had two sons serving under General Botha in South West Africa(Namibia), and also served Durban as a town councilor from 1907 – 1914.
The mere fact that he emigrated from Germany was regarded sufficient reason to destroy his business. In the end, the factory was put under government protection to prevent further damage.
In 1915, Michael made a firm decision and renamed L. Bauman & Co to Bakers Limited, in order to remove the German connotation of Baumann.
In 1918, Michael’s son, William, opened a biscuit factory called Selected Products in Cape Town. William eventually sold the company to Bakers in 1922, where it continued to operate as a subsidiary.
In 1923, Bakers bought Barretts Model Bakery which was run as a wholly owned subsidiary that produced bread only.
During the same year, the company registered the “Little Man” trademark. This became the iconic Bakers trademark along with its lattice type blue and white printed packaging.
In 1948, Bakers Limited was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
In 1968, the company established a factory at Isando in Pinetown, which commenced operations on the 6th of December 1972. The following year, operations in Durban were closed, and consolidated at the new Pinetown factory.
AVI Acquisition
In 1981, Bakers was acquired by AVI(Anglovaal Industries). In 1993, AVI bought another company, Pyotts, a savoury biscuit manufacturer.
The following year, AVI regrouped the companies under Associated Biscuits. In 1996, Associated Biscuits was then consolidated into National Brands Limited.
