Bakker Bakker, baker Jonker, baker Brakenhoff: one baker after another has been forced to close its doors lately. It seems like a tough period for the bakers, but it says little about the baker’s profession, says owner Gert-Jan Slijkerman of the Slijkerman bakery. “Above all, you have to have everything well organized.”
With seven branches in Schagen, ‘t Zand, Middenmeer, Julianadorp, Wieringerwerf and Warmenhuizen, Slijkerman is one of the larger bakers in the Kop van Noord-Holland. Owner Gert-Jan Slijkerman thinks that the higher energy costs are not the only reason why bakers now seem to be going bankrupt en masse. “There are often underlying reasons. Think of personal circumstances, choices that turn out wrong or bad luck.”
Higher costs for energy consumption need not mean the final blow, he believes. “Of course it is not pleasant, but if you have everything well organized, you will manage. It can only be the last straw if things did not go well anyway. Or if people thought about retiring and for the choice stand or finish their game or still enjoy it.”
Top sport
His own company is still doing well. It doesn’t come naturally to him either, but it all works out. “Entrepreneurship is top sport. If you don’t have everything in place, it won’t work.” But what do you need to have well organized? “A good location, you have to offer quality, you have to know how to bind people to you. That sounds simple, but that’s how it works. If my filled cakes are just as good as in the supermarket, people will stop coming.”
And he’s not the only one who’s still doing well. “Kerssens, Dunselman, Beerse, Alkemade, Van der Ploeg”, he sums up. “So it is still possible. You just have to be prepared for changes. My grandfather wanted to become a baker at a time when there were many other bakers, and when my father took over, you had the supermarkets that emerged.”
Wry
Slijkerman continues: “You therefore not only have to be prepared for this, but also want to change and go along with it. Fortunately, things are going well here and it remains a challenge. Nevertheless, it is a pity for the bakers who did not make it. They all had a dream and worked very hard. And then it turns out that it was all for nothing. That is very bitter, if you are now left empty-handed. I hope it does not happen to anyone else. “