Nothing could be fresher, could it? Behind glass ovens, customers can watch the buns, pretzels, or apple pies baking inside, imagining their crispiness, and they're still warm when you get them in a paper bag. Bakers tirelessly boast, claiming to be creators of "fresh and delicious" treats. But they would do well to be more humble. Because these breads, meant for customers to watch, may appear to be made fresh in the bakery, but are typically frozen semi-finished products, mass-produced in a factory. During preparation, in addition to standard baking additives, bakers must also add a special substance that allows the pastry to retain its shape when thawed. This way, there is no noticeable "re-baked" taste, and the filling with its juices won't make the pastry soggy and mushy when it melts.
Providers of these semi-finished products are no longer just the little stands near train stations selling pretzels and croissants. Whether it's puff pastries, long pizzas, Berliner buns, or Cologne buns, almost every pastry has a frozen semi-finished product available for pastry chefs to choose from, and they are very willing to buy them. In an interview, the manager of the company Mellep mentioned that there are about 22,000 small pastry shops in Germany, at least half of which use Mellep's products. This makes the company one of the largest suppliers of frozen pastry semi-finished products in Germany. According to the trade magazine "Bread and Pastry," the sales of the semi-finished pastry market reached 500 million marks. This trend is on the rise. In addition to traditional pastries, many fast foods such as pizza pies, Vienna sausages in croissants, etc.