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My name is Christian Kiefer and I am the founder and Managing Director of the Bagel Bakery GmbH.
Bagel Bakery actually began as a restaurant concept, Bagel Brothers.
My partner Gregor Gerlach and I were visiting Chicago in 1996 and were sitting on the terrace of a snack restaurant taking a bite from a fresh Bagel Sandwich. I immediately fell in love with this extraordinary piece of dough. We asked ourselves why there was nothing similar available in Germany and the idea of making Bagels famous here was born.
It was a completely new product for the German market. People thought it was a Donut or called it a roll with a hole. We were asked the craziest questions.
The intrigued reaction we received gave us inspiration. We saw in the USA what was possible with the product, but from a German perspective we really starting at the very beginning of the Bagel journey and education.
From my own side, I wanted to learn everything I could about this amazing product. I went on a Bagel expedition to New York, where I looked for apprenticeships and any opportunity to train and learn. I talked to Bakers, went from one Bagel shop to another interviewing the people behind the counter. Everybody gave a snippet, but never the full story, as each had their own secret way!
From New York, I continued my Bagel education in New Jersey and Chicago. I worked at Bagel Shops, I kneaded dough, baked and learned everything about the process.
When Gregor and I were back in Germany, we started with local ingredients and the imported machines that we brought back here to bake our own Bagels. In June 1996 Bagel Brothers was ready for ‘Take Off’. At the heart of it was our authentic, US style product.
Four years later came the major milestone of setting up Bagel Bakery, where we have been producing millions of delicious, US style Bagels since the year 2000 and spreading the Bagel story!
