Griesson - de Beukelaer Expands Its Facility in Wurzen
The family-owned company is investing more than 100 million euros in the construction of a new production facility and logistics center with an automated high-bay warehouse, as well as a new, modern employee and administrative building at the site.
By 2027, the construction of state-of-the-art facilities will create additional production capacity for GRIESSON soft cake—the market leader in the fruit-flavored chocolate cookie segment—and up to 100 new jobs at the Wurzen site. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in July 2025.
GRIESSON soft cake, one of the most popular cookies on the German baked goods market since 1977 and the market leader in the fruit-flavored chocolate cookie segment, is not only a prime example of quality and tradition but also of innovation and growth: With the expansion of the Wurzen site, the company is investing in new production facilities and state-of-the-art technologies to begin producing GRIESSON soft cake in Wurzen for the first time starting in 2027. Forward-looking technologies will further increase the already high level of automation, thereby ensuring the site’s sustainable development in the long term.
“We are shaping our future with confidence and ambition. We are committed to Germany as a business location and are investing because our roots are in Polch, Kahla, and Wurzen: in our plants, in progress, technology, and digitalization, and in new and exciting product concepts. The expansion of the Wurzen site is a forward-looking investment for our family-owned company, and we thank the political and business leaders in Saxony for their constructive support and practical solutions,” says Dany Schmidt, Chairman of the Executive Board of Griesson - de Beukelaer.
As part of the federal-state program GRW-RIGA, a joint initiative for “Improving the Regional Economic Structure,” the German Federal State of Saxony is supporting our family-owned company in this investment project. The initiative is co-financed with tax revenues based on the budget approved by the Saxony State Parliament.
- Background
Baking has a long tradition in Wurzen: In 1886, Ernst and Fritz Krietsch founded Wurzener Kunstmühlen und Bisquitfabriken AG and, in the early years, produced gingerbread, honey cake, dog biscuits, and ship’s rusks. Starting in 1946, the company continued to operate as a state-owned enterprise and was popularly known as “die Krietsche.” After acquiring other pastry factories, Wurzen became the leading producer of long-life baked goods—such as cookies, gingerbread, pastry mixes, and waffle products—in the GDR during the 1980s and also exported baked goods to the West. After German reunification, Wurzener Dauerbackwaren GmbH was founded. It has been part of Griesson - de Beukelaer since 2008.
The federal-state GRW program, with its subprograms GRW-Infra and GRW-RIGA, is the most important instrument of economic and structural policy in Saxony. On May 19, 2026, the Saxony cabinet decided to revise the two GRW guidelines. In doing so, Saxony implemented a key initiative from “Future Package I,” which was presented by Minister of Economic Affairs Dirk Panter at the end of March. Funding for municipal business-related infrastructure (Infra) and small-scale commercial enterprises (RIGA) has been significantly streamlined.