‘New working environments demand suitable offers.’

MILRAM Food-Service has managed the crisis well so far. However, when the decision was made in March 2020 to close food service businesses as part of the first lockdown, this could not be foreseen. ‘The reference basis for the Food-Service disappeared within a very short time. We were faced with the challenge of having to adapt to a situation without warning and to which nobody had the answers. Our customers and wholesale retailers had to drastically decrease their orders. Close coordination was needed between many areas of the company in order to get the inventory under control efficiently. We were also able to manage this thanks to our flexible production,’ explains Ingo Mahnke, Director Sales Food-Service Europe in the DMK Group. From the end of May onwards, food service businesses were gradually allowed to reopen. But there were still many challenges to tackle. Because now we had to adapt entire plans put in place over the previous months in order to be able to supply the correct quantities to customers. ‘It took us around two weeks to adjust to the new situation. The Food-Service business then ran relatively smoothly until October’, says Mahnke. ‘The experiences from the past months allowed us to adjust more effectively to the second lockdown that was to come and to record stable sales.’

‘Even though our portfolio and cross-functional cooperation have meant that we have mastered the coronavirus well up until now, it is clear that the industry can no longer operate in the same way it once did. New digital working environments demand suitable offers. Coronavirus has accelerated this shift immensely. That’s why we are also setting new standards with digital formats,’ explains Sven Kreitz, Food-Service Head of Marketing.

The outbreak of coronavirus in March 2020 led to MILRAM Food-Service developing a concept for a digital exhibition as one of the first industry representatives. One year later – alongside the virtual INTERGASTRA and INTERNORGA – the digital exhibition presence has now been developed extensively. New channels and unexpected visual worlds were added and the concept was tailored to be even more individual. Each user group, from cooks to bakers, has since received an offer tailored to their needs. ‘We want to come into direct contact and speak to the experts and users – also to find out where they’re at,’ explains Kreitz. What this means: On relevant social media channels such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram the brand is presenting the special MILRAM Added Value – #OneMoreIdea (‘#EineIdeeMehr’). All social media posts and content on the landing page can be found under this campaign slogan. As well as creative to-go concepts that promise added potential for sales under the current circumstances, Kristin Mitlewski from Corporate strategy presents the DMK Trendscouting app in a video.

The new website will be launched in April 2021. The external cooks who have been working with MILRAM Food-Service for years will also be presented here in future. One more change: Future content will be directed towards the needs of the various target groups even more – whether that’s cooks from the food service industry or community catering, bakers or caterers. ‘Our activities on social media will highlight the brand’s strengths even further,’ says Kreitz: ‘We are emotionalising the brand and showing the people behind the products. We will continue on this path consistently – on social media and on our new website.’