Keeping it in the family: Two generations of gingerbread men
Keeping it in the family: Two generations of gingerbread men
Already two generations in, the family behind Christen’s Gingerbread plans to keep churning out iconic gingerbread for decades to come!
The iconic Christen’s Gingerbread was established in 1989 by Ruedi Christen, its founding father! For more than 35 years, customers have loved the brand and its scrumptious gingerbread, sharing it down the generations. In the same way, the Christen’s Gingerbread family is now in its second generation and looking ahead to the next.
Over the years, Ruedi enlisted the help of all the family, with all the kids performing various age-appropriate tasks, including, of course, the all-important ‘quality control’! The children would come in after school, on weekends and on school holidays, learning the business by osmosis and through gentle instruction by Ruedi.
Generation two is currently in play
Today, the company is skillfully managed and operated by Ruedi’s youngest son, Robert, who started working in the business in 1998 before school. He had always wanted to be a part of the business from a young age and worked side-by-side with his father for several years until, in 2017, Reudi retired, and Robert took the helm.
Robert’s eldest child is thirteen and loves being at Christen’s on school holidays to help as much as she can. The others, aged eight, ten and eleven, also go in on a regular basis to “help” Robert too.
A family- and people-focused business
Christen’s Gingerbread is the kind of business AND product that makes people happy. The cheerful faces on the gingerbread people can’t help but bring a smile to all who see them (and munch on them!). Even the company’s Office Manager, Vicki Shelford, loves Christen’s so much that she is part of the family. Vicki started in March 2005 and has never looked back.
“I love the variety of the work that I get to do,” Vicki says, “from picking up the biscuits off the belt of the stamper, decorating the biscuits, packing through the packaging machine, packing orders, and doing all the invoicing and office work. Of course, having a great boss and fellow workers is also a plus!”
According to Vicki, “We work to a high standard to ensure our product is the best, but we also have a good time doing it. The first person gets in at 7.30am to set up the bakery and start production. Baking trolleys are filled with our little gingerbread men and once full they go into the oven to bake. Once baked, they go to the decorating area to cool and be hand-decorated. There’s another break while the products dry and then they go into the packaging machine to be bagged up. The wrapped products are put into boxes, depending on the product and are then placed on the shelf for packing to customers’ orders. Once orders have been packed to the customers’ requests, they await collection by our courier to be distributed right around Australia.”
Vicki’s friendly nature greets everyone who calls the office, and she adores telling the company’s story.
“Multiple generations keep coming back for Christen’s Gingerbread. We have customers who come in to get gingerbread for their grandkids and when I ask the grandkids’ ages, I’m told they’re in their thirties!”
Reudi, who is enjoying lots of travel in his retirement, still drops in occasionally to say hello and cast his eye over the operations, knowing the business is in excellent hands.
Future plans for Christen’s Gingerbread
Vicki says there are always new ideas and products in the pipeline, “but until we get things perfect, we like to keep them a little bit secret!” she smiles. One example is the company’s gluten free range, which took two years to perfect, but Vicky explains that if the hard work is invested, then customers respond positively.
In terms of the business, it looks like Christen’s might have to come up with a third-generation gingerbread man! Who knows which of the children will take over the business and keep delighting customers for many more years to come.
Christen’s Gingerbread and Fine Food Wholesalers
“Over the years, we have received consistent results from advertising with Fine Food Wholesalers,” Vicki says. “We continue to get new leads and find that Fine Food Wholesalers is progressive in obtaining new audiences to their platform.”
Aside from their adorable gingerbread men (in two different sizes), Christen’s Gingerbread also offer gingerbread house kits, gingerbread beach shack kits, a variety of cookies and, at Christmas, decorate-your-own Christmas tree and gingerbread men kits.
