Godbiten Konditori

Rolling ahead

Since its inception, Godbiten Konditori has grown in popularity and is today synonymous with quality, variety and reliability

As a traditional pastry chef and owner of several bakeries, Sven Kallerup was beginning to notice consumer purchasing habits were changing drastically with the opening of supermarket doors in the 1960s. It made him realise that in order to survive what could be a cutthroat environment, it was essential to cater to the modern consumer’s needs and requirements. This insight resulted in the foundation of Godbiten Konditori, which loosely translates to ‘a piece of something tasty’.
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In 1970, Sven decided to deliver Godbiten Konditori products from the bakery directly to the consumers, which very quickly gained popularity amongst its loyal customers and resulted in a very significant growth over the years. Today the company is perfectly positioned in Åstorp, a town just outside Helsingborg in Sweden.

Åstorp is a railway junction located at the European route E4, close to Helsingborg. Åstorp grew in importance when the railway from Helsingborg to Hässleholm-Stockholm was completed in 1875. In 1886 a railway to Malmö was completed, and in 1888 Åstorp became a main junction when the Malmö-Gothenburg line was completed. Åstorp is connected to Helsingborg via two routes, one entering Helsingborg from the north and one from the south via Ramlösa. Located in what is an ideal location for Godbiten Konditori translates easily into efficient deliveries throughout the year. Equipped with the latest technologies, Godbiten Konditori’s production facility meets all the highest standards, which only further guarantees the unrivalled quality that its products have become synonymous with.

Today Godbiten Konditori is in its second generation and is managed by Sven’s sons – Rune Kallerup as the company’s president and Viggo Kallerup as the technical director. Both sons have continued the legacy and vision of their father since their takeover, which has resulted in the Godbiten products gaining popularity both in Sweden and neighbouring countries.

Through the years, the company has invested significantly in updating its packaging to ensure it is always attractive, informative, and in-keeping with customer’s needs. Recently the company launched a few products from its range as single-packed options, including coconut buns, brownies, blueberry and chocolate muffins. This development was brought about to meet the needs of the convenience market, especially the working professionals who are too busy to shop around in search of a bite-to-go for a single person. Since its launch, the single-packaging catalogue has been steadily increasing to include more of Godbiten’s product range and it has also been growing in popularity amongst the younger market.
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Apart from that, Godbiten Konditori also continuously works on developing the best solution for the marketing of its products in stores. The main target is to make is to provide a variety of products in an expo-display format. In Sweden, most of Godbiten Konditori’s products are presented in supermarkets in its own range of displays or half-pallet expos.

As well as investing time and money in innovating its product line, Godbiten Konditori recognises that it is just as important to ensure an efficient production. With over 2500 customers, 114 employees and an annual sales of approximately 123 million SEK, the Godbiten name is no stranger in almost every Swedish home as the perfect complement to a hot beverage. While every single product produced by Godbiten is faultless in its attention-to-detail, quality and taste, the technology era meant it needed to look further into its IT solutions. This focus led to a successful collaboration with an IT solutions provider in Sweden, IT Gården. More than just to save cost, this collaboration was inspired by the need to streamline, remove waste, manage inventory and improve overall communication within the company.

According to Rune, the investment and co-operation with IT Gården has resulted in a better-run production line with less wastage. These have had an overall impact on the running of the business, ensuring reliability when it comes to data management by minimising human-error. This investment not only improves the operations today, but it has also spelt a future of further efficiencies whilst maintaining its competitive edge in the industry.

Despite the economic turmoil, Godbiten Konditori has managed to retain its reputation and its position in the marketplace. Today the company supplies 700 supermarkets in Sweden and exports 15 per cent of its products to the Scandinavian countries, Germany and eastern Europe. In moving forward, Godbiten aims to not only increase its customer base in Sweden, but it is also looking to grow the export sector and penetrate other neighbouring markets. Godbiten Konditori is insistent that its plans for further growth will not compromise its quality standards and relationship with its customers. As it has done since its inception, the company will continue listening to customers and working to meet their every need. Godbiten Konditori strongly believes that the values that have got it to where it is today, will continue to see it through the next 40 years and beyond.