Particularly popular at Christmas time and famous throughout North Rhine-Westphalia and beyond: gingerbread, Printen and Dominosteine (small gingerbread specialities with chocolate) from Aachen. More than 320 years ago, Henry Lambertz opened up a small baker's shop. Today, the Lambertz Group is one of the leading producers of baked goods in Germany.

In 1978, Dr. Hermann Bühlbecker – merely 27 years old at the time – joined the company's management board. Shortly thereafter, he became the sole proprietor of the family-run business and initiated a growth strategy for the company's expansion. His recipe for success: innovation management. Originally, Lambertz only made Printen and gingerbread. It was time to introduce new products. Bühlbecker notes: “The decisive step was the expansion of our range of products.”

Firstly, classic Christmas products such as Dominosteine and spicy “spekulatius” cookies were added to the company's selection of Christmas goods. As a next step, treats that could be sold all year round, such as chocolates, baking mixes and pastries, were incorporated into the product line. As a result, the brand is not only popular during the holiday season, but throughout the rest of the year as well.

In order to generate ideas, the company's employees are actively encouraged to offer creative contributions, and Bühlbecker himself gets involved in the creative process as well: “My door is always open for suggestions and ideas.” Moreover, the management continually looks to experiences gained in supermarkets and specialty shops for inspiration. Lambertz consciously seeks feedback from its customers, as they are able to identify the wishes of the general consumer. Thus, the company is able to recognize new trends, such as the growing interest in organic food, early on and transform them into concrete product ideas – in this specific case, the baked good series “Vitalgebäck.” In doing so, the business has succeeded in varying its range of products “more drastically in the past 30 years than in the prior 300 years,” says Bühlbecker proudly.

Being creative and open for new things really pays off: the company's annual turnover has increased from 16 million marks to more than 500 million euros today.

Despite these improvements, the company has always remained true to one motto: preserve tradition – live innovation. “When a consumer buys Lambertz products, he knows that he is getting quality that has prevailed for more than three centuries,” the owner says. And all new goods are recognizable as Lambertz products, which not only pleases the regular customers, but also enables the brand to continually attract new groups of buyers.

Ultimately, though, the brand's success is closely linked to the city of Aachen. Although the Lambertz Group has since established other branches, the initial location of Aachen continues to be the company's main hub. Company Director Bühlbecker also grew up here and can't image living anywhere else: “I treasure the business location North Rhine-Westphalia. The people here are especially characterized by openness and friendliness. After all, it's for good reason that this region is famous for the cheerful nature of its residents,” laughs Bühlbecker.

In addition to cheerfulness, Bühlbecker particularly considers ambition to be one of his own distinctive characteristics. He needs it, too, as the entrepreneur is already poised to face another big challenge: “Our goal is not only to sustain and strengthen our position in the market, but to expand even further into foreign markets – for example, to Asia and the USA.”

As a first step, Bühlbecker has already acquired many high-class contacts in the United States. Lovers of his traditional baked goods from Aachen include George Bush senior and Henry Kissinger. Bill Clinton regularly sends Bühlbecker invitations to the “Clinton Global Initiative” in New York, in which heads of state, economic leaders and famous figures from throughout the world participate. “Back then, my ancestors could surely not have imagined,” says Bühlbecker, “that this company would one day radiate far beyond the city's limits.”