Bread Ambassador from St. Agatha: A new path for the bakery industry

Bread Ambassador from St. Agatha: A new path for the bakery industry

ST. AGATHA.BakerMatthias Rathmayr, the junior manager of the traditional Rathmayr bakery in St. Agatha, has successfully completed the demanding training to become a bread sommelier. He has thus qualified as the first bread ambassador in the Grieskirchen district. For him, this marks a significant step into the future of the baking industry and underlines his passion for the bakery craft.

The young baker runs the business together with his parents, Roswitha and Peter Rathmayr, and emphasizes the challenges that the industry currently has to overcome. “Being a baker is the best job there is,” says Rathmayr, “but we have to adapt to the changing conditions in order to find solutions for the future.” Further training at the Academy of the German Bakery Craft in Weinheim, in cooperation with the Austrian Food Academy, represents a valuable opportunity to respond to the current challenges.

The role as bread ambassador

As a bread ambassador, Rathmayr would like to bring people closer to the meaning and diversity of bread. His motto is: “Bread is life” or “Our daily bread”. He explains that it is not just about the product itself, but also about the cultural, nutritional, sensory and food legal dimensions of the bread. “We want to show people how important bread is in our diet and how each individual baker can contribute to quality,” he adds with a smile.

Rathmayr would like to pay particular attention to how bread can regain a high status in society. "At the moment only 13 percent of all baked goods in Austria are sold in artisan bakeries, the majority come from supermarkets. This means that small bakeries are faced with the challenge of standing out from the crowd with quality and expertise," he explains. For Rathmayr, the role as bread ambassador is a first step in this direction.

Represented in small numbers worldwide

The training to become a bread sommelier includes eleven months of intensive training and ends with a three-day exam that tests both theoretical knowledge and sensory skills. “I had to analyze and evaluate six breads that I had never seen before,” explains Rathmayr proudly. An important method in this training is food pairing: the participants learn which types of bread go best with wine, beer or cheese. “I would also like to pass on this knowledge to our customers,” Rathmayr is certain.

With only 267 bread sommeliers worldwide, the role of bread ambassador is something special. Rathmayr's commitment shows how important it is to preserve and pass on the tradition of bread baking. Its efforts could not only raise local awareness of the importance of high-quality bread, but also advance the emerging baking industry as a whole.

This makes the Rathmayr bakery a contact point for anyone who wants to find out more about the multifaceted world of bread. “It’s time for bread to get back the appreciation it deserves,” says Rathmayr enthusiastically. This will not only benefit the craft but also the customers who will develop a better understanding of the products.

In the future, a deeper insight into Rathmayr's approach will be available in the bakery itself, where he would like to pass on knowledge about bread through various events and information offerings. More details on this exciting topic are in a detailed report on www.tips.at to find.