Season of falling nuts: A journey in the paths of Loacker success

100 years ago, Alfons Loacker began a three-generation success, when he bought the small pastry shop he worked in in the city of Bolzano in Italy. Alfons thought he had made a dream come true, but he soon discovered that it was only the beginning. The aromas of the crisp and airy waffle he produced made waves, and the young baker knew how to adjust the production line according to the increased demands, while overcoming the crisis in the Second World War.

In 1958, Armin and Christine Loacker Zuenelli took over the management baton from their father, and led the growth of the brand. About 40 years later, in 1996, the third generation took over the family business. Since then, the company has been managed by Andreas and Martin Loacker and Ulrich Zuenelli, Alphonse's grandsons, and they are responsible for further significant development with the establishment of a second production plant in 1999 in East Tyrol. The third generation adheres to innovation, adapts the new products to the changing needs of consumers around the world and designates its continued existence for their children.

Alfons Loacker's waffle shows a global presence in about 100 countries, with Israel (with a market share of about 30%) ranked fourth in the sales ranking in the world after Italy, the USA and South Africa - and before China. The Italian brand has a global turnover of over 435 million euros and employs over 1,000 people. According to the company's management, the secret of the long-term success lies in the company's standards, which are protection of nature and strict adherence to high quality, use of natural ingredients and supervision of the supply chain.

Nut fall season

"Italian Hazelnut Plantations" is an initiative of the company that came to fruition between 2011-2017, with the purchase of two hazelnut plantations in the heart of Tuscany. Not surprisingly, the journey on which I embarked with representatives from the family to the heart of the famous waffle, passed through significant landmarks, the first of which is a hazelnut plantation in Tuscany, where the company maintains its own cultivation of the strategic ingredient, its main raw material that has become a commercial symbol.

Loacker uses 100% Italian hazelnuts that fall to the ground by themselves when they reach maturity. After collecting, sorting and cleaning, she roasts them in her districts and produces from them the iconic cream base identified with the brand, while some are intended to decorate a variety of products.

From the plantation region in Tuscany we continued towards the north of Italy, to the center of the city of Bolzano, where Alfons Loacker opened his first small patisserie that quickly became a household name thanks to the delicious waffles baked in it. With the growth of the brand in the 1970s, the distribution of the brand began to expand from South Tyrol to Northern Italy and from there to the entire world. The first factory was established in 1974.

The second morning we started by descending in a cable car with unique views reserved for the Tyrol region and the Dolomites, straight to the branded cafe in the center of Bolzano, which offers visitors a sweet experience alongside nostalgia: an ice cream parlor, quality coffee and decadent desserts between walls decorated with historical photos and a store to purchase the best of the company's products. Satisfied and equipped with bags of products that are not planned to arrive in Israel, we continued to visit the factory, only we were not warned that the aroma of the hot and liquid chocolate on crispy waffle bars penetrates even a full stomach and may be addictive.

Code Name: Sterility

We arrived at the factory, which is located at the foot of the Dolomites, 1,000 m above sea level, facing the famous Hesleran mountain that appears on the unforgettable logo. We entered the factory with the telephones and photo equipment left on duty, dressed from head to toe in disposable clothing to the sterile production area. The factory, which produces unimaginable quantities of thin and crispy waffle sheets, cascades of hot chocolate and rich creams made of sticky ingredients (in the positive sense of the description), demonstrated a particularly impressive level of cleanliness. The question 'How do they do it?' came up countless times as we tasted sweet chocolate bars straight from the production line, just before they went to the packaging machine that stood between us.

The factory we visited produces the chocolate-rich snacks, including leading products such as Waffle Gardena, Praline Rose and the Tortina snack. Six tons of chocolate are produced here in 60 seconds and to give the products a shiny chocolate finish, the snack coated in hot chocolate enters the conveyor belt at a temperature of 15 degrees for a precise time.

The next stop we reached the next morning was a dairy, one of many, that produce the alpine milk used to make the creams in Loacker products. Each cow cared for in this dairy produces an average of 32 liters of milk every day.

Local dairy farms are part of the tradition that represents an important branch of agriculture in the Alps and with which the company works. The local milk producers participate in the "Animal Protection Project in South Tyrol", which takes care of the cows' needs with dedication: water supply, resting areas, maintenance of physical condition, areas of movement, prevention of skin damage, hoof quality, treatment of lameness, standing behavior and birth rates .

During the visit to the barn, we met a calf that was born yesterday and saw with our own eyes the independent movement of the cows to the massagers and feeding and milking facilities in their free time. We experimented with manual milking and watched automatic milking, drank hot milk poured into cups directly from the udder and tasted a secret snack that has not yet been decided if it will be mass produced and marketed globally.

Adapted nostalgic recipe

Despite the global success, Loacker maintains the values of family and tradition that formed the basis of its establishment, including the value of friendship and hospitality. Proof of this was Andreas Loacker, the grandson of the company's founder, who is currently in charge of the company's product development department, who honored us with his presence in a long evening that began with an exclusive cocktail meeting and continued to a luxurious dinner, but at eye level. Andreas was exceptionally attentive and happy to hear new ideas from a group of Israeli consumers. He shared with us impressive openness, future plans and constant innovation.

Loacker emphasized that although the recipe development process has become more complex over the years, the criteria that the company adheres to remain the same: use of high quality raw materials and natural ingredients without added flavors or colors and without genetically modified raw materials. They are the ones who lead the decision-making in the development of new products that will suit the changing tastes of the various consumers around the world.

The founder's grandson revealed that the recipes were renewed in 2020 and 2022. The company, which strives to constantly improve the nutritional profile of its products, launched a new line Goodness & Wellbein, which presents a combination of taste and health with a 4% reduction in sugar. He also mentioned the new Loacker Multigrain lines with waffles made from whole flour, and Loacker Less Sugar which contains 30% less sugar than the classic line.

Following the fruitful meeting with the grandson who is responsible for the development of the products, we woke up on the fourth and last morning of the journey to visit the brand's development laboratory located in a secret wing throughout the factory, which we reached after ten minutes of walking through an underground labyrinth. Even under cross-examination, they will not be able to extract from me the road map to the wing where the future of the company is woven, where the secret recipes are refined, and where the final decisions are made before production.

After the development managers presented the stories behind the various raw materials: the cocoa that comes from Ecuador, the vanilla grown in the Bourbon Islands, the milk from the Alps, and the hazelnuts from the plantations in Italy, we experimented in a product development workshop, with iconic ingredients laid out on the table for a unique combination according to our taste. Of course the works were devoured with pleasure, not before they were proudly recorded.

Loacker in Israel is represented by Leiman Schlüssel, the importer of the brand for 37 years, with control of about one-third of the market share in the waffle category. Over the years, the brand also entered the category of sweet snacks, bonbonnieres and chocolate bars, where it established itself well. In the cookie category, he was not successful, and as a result, the import of Loacker cookies to Israel was stopped.

Recently, the importer also launched Loacker ice creams to the local consumer audience, and in the coming days the new Rapi products will also hit the shelves in Israel, personal snacks of rolled waffle pillows filled with nut-flavored cream (parve).

Even after the impressive journey along the paths of success of the leading Italian brand, it is easy to understand that the future of Loacker holds many opportunities but also significant challenges. The waffle market becomes competitive with the introduction of new brands and products, but just before the 100th anniversary celebrations to be held in April 2025, it demonstrates innovation, flexibility and a real ability to adapt to the changing market trends.

The writer visited the Loacker factory in Italy