Arbejdernes Fællesbageri, first at Godthåbsvej 7 and later at Vestergade 16, was started in 1909 and closed in 1978.
Workers’ Community Bakery in Skive
The first bread from Arbejdernes Fællesbageri was baked on June 10, 1909 in the bakery at Godthåbsvej 7 in Skive. The opening was prepared for a little over a year. On November 23, 1908, a founding meeting was held at Landmandshotellet. A small committee with bricklayer Jens Chr. Jensen as chairman, had made sure that shares were subscribed – many were small. A total of 293 shares together accounted for a share capital of DKK 1400.
The first board of directors, consisting of blacksmith Mogensen, joiner Josefsen, L. Lauridsen (who became chairman), Marinus Pharsen and baker Christensen, had to find suitable premises.
At an extraordinary general meeting on March 9, 1909, it was decided to buy P. Odgaard’s property at Godthåbsvej 7, where there had previously been a brushwood factory. The purchase price was DKK 5,500 and the first mortgage on the property of DKK 5,000 belonged to Industriforeningen. With the conversion to a bakery, the whole thing came to cost DKK 14,000.
In April 1909, the board hired master journeyman Anton Poulsen and bread driver Thomas Thomassen, while teacher Poul Larsen became business manager.
Start of community bakeries in Denmark
In the early 1880s, grain prices fell in Denmark, but this was not reflected in bread prices. Bread was a staple food for workers whose real wages had fallen. It was widely believed that private master bakers used internal price agreements to keep bread prices unreasonably high, thereby exploiting fluctuations in grain prices to make high profits.
The communal bakery in Aarhus was the first to open in 1884 and the phenomenon spread to most of the country’s major cities. The initial capital was – as in Skive – typically raised by several hundred local consumers subscribing to small 5- or 10-kroner shares. The initiative to establish a bakery often came from the local organizations of the labor movement.
The goal was to ensure good quality bread at a low price.
It didn’t always go smoothly, as community bakeries were not financially well off. They were met with skepticism when they tried to get loans from local banks, and the local private master bakers waged price wars or tried to get raw material suppliers to boycott the community bakeries.
But the monopoly power of the private bakery owners was weakened by the increased competition on price and quality, and the cooperative bakeries had loyal consumers who may have helped start the cooperative themselves.
Growth of the cooperative
The cooperative bakery baked rye bread, sieve bread and “25-øre French bread”.
At the general meeting in 1909, after six months of operation, the results were satisfactory. Revenue was DKK 16,974. Expenses 14,663. Net profit 2310. The result was so good that it was decided to start another bread wagon. During the first few years, turnover reached DKK 42,000.
In February 1912, the premises had to be expanded and a 3rd bread wagon was started. In 1915, they expanded again and built a warehouse. In order to be self-sufficient in flour, a mill was set up and master miller Jensen was hired. In 1916, a new oven was built.
In 1917, Gammelgård Mill was purchased. The mill was modernized, switched to mechanical operation, bought land, acquired a grist mill and peat shed. The mill’s turnover far exceeded that of the bakery, but the bakery also did well.
At the general meeting in 1919, the turnover was calculated at DKK 1,205,000 and bread sales had increased by 100%. In 1921, Fællesbageriet took over Kjær’s bakery in Vestergade, where they could rent the premises and began baking fine bread.
Financial problems
During the years of great activity and recovery, they had also become involved in Assens Fællesbageri near Hadsund. This turned out to be a loss-making business. The money for all the activities was borrowed, and when many industries declined after World War I, the financial problems began, and Gammelgårds Dampmølle could no longer make ends meet.
In 1922, business manager (and teacher) Poul Larsen resigned and died shortly afterwards. He had been the driving force behind the bakery. His replacement could not correct anything, on the contrary, the audit showed a cash difference of 22,000 when he resigned the same year.
The board then decided to hire the former master baker Anton Poulsen as business manager.
In 1922, Gammelgårds Dampmølle was successfully sold to Samvirkende Fællesbagerierierier for DKK 600,000. Now the bakery could begin to pay off its large debts to Andelsbanken and Arbejdernes Landsbank. For 4-5 years, the bakery worked with great difficulty, but it was slowly making progress. In 1926, they managed to reach an agreement with Arbejdernes Landsbank, so the debt was written off, and now the consolidation could begin, and slowly – little by little – the debt was paid off.
At the 25th anniversary in 1934, the board felt it was time to celebrate the event. The next 25 years were slow but sure progress.
In 1935, the property “Skandinavien” in Vestergade, where the bakery was rented, was put up for sale and Fællesbageriet bought it for DKK 53,000.
Safe through the occupation
During the occupation, there were problems with supplies, so the quality of the bread fell and the bakery had to switch to using horses to transport goods. In the summer of 1940, 4 wagons and 9 horses were purchased, and horse stables were set up in an old side building in Vestergade. Throughout the war, the bakery managed to keep its supplies more or less in order.
In 1944, the limited company was split for tax reasons, so that one company ran Arbejdernes Fællesbageri in Vestergade and one company ran Arbejdernes Brødfabrik on Godthåbsvej.
Consolidation up to the 50th anniversary
The bakery was worn out and they wanted to rebuild, but it was not financially feasible until 1951. After drawings by architects Erik V. Lind and Tage Hansen and Svend Poulsen, in 1952 the building committee finally granted permission for construction and was able to hold a tender. The interior of the new bakery cost DKK 200,000, which could be financed with their own funds.
15. the new bakery was completed in January 1953. Baker Johannes Andersen from Aarhus was hired, and he created success with good quality despite low prices. This continued with his successor, baker Christen Sørensen.
The community bakery had bread sales in 11 places in the town, as well as in Selde and Højslev K and Højslev St. There were cars that delivered bread to many places in Salling and Fjends.
24. february 1958, business manager master journeyman Anton Poulsen died. This marked the end of a long career. Nørskov Jensen, who had been a bookkeeper for many years, was hired as business manager. Thomsen, who had been with the bakery for over 40 years, was hired as master journeyman on Godthåbsvej.
Community bakeries in Denmark after World War II
Until after World War II, the cooperative bakeries generally fared well in competition with private bakeries and were largely able to fulfill their cooperative goal of ensuring cheaper bread prices. They also had better wages and working conditions for their employees than the private bakeries. The cooperative bakeries were not open on Sundays.
The many bakeries joined together to form the Association of Joint Bakeries (later renamed the Rutana Association), which in 1941 comprised a total of 39 joint bakeries. Each joint bakery typically made some types of bread: e.g. Rutana (dark rye bread), Vitana (light rye bread), Fultana (wholemeal bread)
At a time when Danes’ consumption of rye bread was falling sharply, community bakeries increased their market share to 27.4% in 1971 through close cooperation with the cooperative associations. Despite falling bread consumption, many private and community bakeries made major investments, resulting in significant overcapacity in the late 1960s and 1970s.
In 1963, a survey by the Association showed that 21 out of 33 bakeries had a deficit if they were to make a reasonable return on their equity and depreciate machinery and equipment. The community bakeries were slow to react to the overcapacity. They could identify the problems but did not want to close their own local bakery.
However, by 1970 there were only 25 joint bakeries left in the association and in 1979 the remaining bakeries in Jutland and Funen, with the exception of Viborg Fællesbageri, merged into the company Rutana Vest A/S to survive, but even so, the decline was severe and almost all bakeries were closed down.
The community bakery in Skive towards closure
In September 1976, Fællesbageriet’s business in Vestergade got a facelift. The business premises were doubled in size and the inventory was replaced with new and modern equipment. The range of products was significantly increased, so you could now buy both pastries and wholemeal bread. The rye bread came from Fællesbageriet in Viborg, otherwise everything was produced in the bakery. In 1976, the bakery had 19 employees, still ran 4 country tours in Salling and Fjends and Sunday closing was maintained.
In the following year, plans were made to expand FDB’s involvement in the city of Skive, including the construction of a store with its own bakery. Despite attempts to retain FDB as a customer, Fællesbageriet had to recognize that the race was over.
At the turn of the year 1977-78, the newspaper announced that Fællesbageriet in Vestergade closed and merged with A/S Fællesbageriet in Viborg.
Fællesbageriet in Viborg was operated under the name Rutana A/S in a new large factory on Livøvej in Viborg, but had to close in 1984 due to lack of profitability.
Sources:
- Arbejdernes Fællesbageri Skive 50 years by Georg Christoffersen
- Arbejderhistorie nr. 1 2013, Arbejdernes Fællesbagerier by Kasper Sandberg Sørensen
- Skive Folkeblad September 16, 1976
- Skive Folkeblad December 21, 1977