First generation
Founder: Rudolf Auer
Year of foundation: 1920
Place: Vienna
Products: pastries
1920:
beginning of the production of TORTENECKEN (“cake edges“), later a proprietary article, originally called TORTENBRUCH (“cake fragments”). The unsuccessful attempt of selling wafer cakes led to a sale of broken wafer cakes and suddenly, the demand was so high that “broken cakes/fragments” had to be produced. Soon the first location, a room in a basement, became too small and until the beginning of the Second World War seven cake shops in Vienna and Lower Austria were opened.
The chaos of war and lack of raw materials forced the enterprise to halt its activities until 1949.
Starting new after the war, Auer stopped producing pastries in favor of long-life bakery goods, chocolate articles and confectionary and created its own network of sales representatives.
1949: development and successful launch of BAUMSTÄMME („tree-trunks“)
Second generation
At the end of the fifties, son Günter, the successor designate, born in 1941, joined the business.
Günter Auer’s education: middle school, technical high school (HTL – TGM), 2-year college course, military service at the sappers.
In the beginning of the sixties a product rationalisation started, and the main emphasize was put on wafer products.
Assortment segmentation: Tortenecken („cake edges“), Baumstämme („tree trunks“), wafers = food retailing
ice cream wafers, ice cream cones, hollow wafer rolls, fan-shaped wafers = for dessert
The production areas in Vienna’s 18th district were enlarged through the purchase of neighbouring property. Permanent adjustments in the organisation were necessary due to the rapid expansion of the firm: export department, technical development, introduction of EDP….
Purchase of ice cream wafer producer Lux and hollow wafer roll producer Lippe.
To guarantee their freshness tin packaging was introduced for all products delivered to caterers, kitchens and ice cream parlours.
In 1980 competitor FLORIDIA as well as its property in Spillern, in the north of Vienna, were taken over.
It was decided that Spillern should become the new production centre, eventually replacing three other production sites in Vienna.
Marketing and sales companies were established in Germany and Italy.
In 1986 a central warehouse was built in Spillern.
In 1994 the “Minis“ were launched: smaller bite-sized forms of the “Tortenecken” and the “Baumstämme” were developed, first for 100g-packs, then for 400g-500g packs. Thus, a new market segment was addressed, suddenly multiplying produced tonnages.
Until 1996 the three former production sites were moved from Vienna to Spillern.
In 1989 a Hungarian ice cream cone firm was purchased which led to the establishment of „Auer Waffel Hungary” in Budapest, the start of a strong expansion towards the former Comecon States.
To promote its own sales department, a new trade department was founded, through which brands like Barilla pasta, Fishermen’s Friend or mec3 ice cream raw materials were marketed.
In 1991 an area of 2 ha near Budapest was bought, and relatively easy monoproductions were moved from Spillern to Budapest.
The empty space in Spillern was used for articles with a high contribution margin.
In 1991 start of private label products for Bahlsen, Suchard and Mars in Budapest for the former Eastern Bloc and export to third countries.
>>>a video film is available concerning this topic <<<
It became more difficult to continue a stand alone policy and so the Austrian business was sold at the end of 1997, the Hungarian firm in 1998.
Only the AWI, Auer Waffel International GmbH&CoKG company and a sales agency for frozen pizza and baguettes were kept.
The AWI company holds patents and trademark rights which are also being exploited. These days the AWI company is not only busy with the administration of property and shares, but also develops products by order of other companies.
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