In March of this year Andreas Coppenrath welcomed the members of the German parliament Gitta Connemann and Hans-Michael Goldmann to the Coppenrath family bakery. The purpose for the visit was to exchange ideas on the planned internet portal “Clarity and truth in Food Identification”.

Coppenrath voiced his concerns for the planned portal by referring to concrete examples; he took on the following position:

-         We explicitly support the implementation of a central platform for the protection of consumer health, a platform where consumers can gather information on products. Yet, the information must be factual and neutral and may not contain one-sided statements.

-        We are decidedly opposed to the product-related section of the planned internet portal, which is to contain a straightforward identification of products and manufacturers. In doing so, it offends against basic constitutional principles on account of the concomitant public debate on specific food items; e.g. it offends against the principle of power division. It is not for the federal government in conjunction with the Federal Association Consumer Centre (German: Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband {vzbv}) to go against intentional misleadings, but this is the task of food inspection and the judiciary.

-         In our view, the vzbv is not a neutral carrier and the Consumer Centre Hessen is not a suitable operator for the internet portal. The concern is that companies and their products will be named and shamed without any justification for doing so. The lack of scientifically warranted arguments can lead to false information and a misleading of the consumers.

-          The current design of the internet portal can, thus, also cause enormous damage to our company, which, at the end of the day, will harm our image, sales and employment opportunities.

-         A current example shows how quickly fatal damages can be incurred: Arbitrarily set limits for coumarin in Christmas pastries unsettle the consumer and force manufacturers to abandon traditional recipes. On account of this, products lose their special character and product diversity decreases.

-         Knowledge about food products may not be determined by individual lobbyists who have a biased and distorted ideology. Instead, a forum must be established in which consumers may find well-founded, neutral information that is comprehensible and relatable

-         Presently, there is already an effective legislation against misrepresentation and intentional misleadings for labeling and presenting food and for the field of advertising. There is no need for an internet portal that has this same purpose.

-         Instead, it should be the aim of the portal to promote a new awareness for the value of food products amongst consumers since, in the long term, only a fair price and a broad variety as well as high quality will secure our German food items.

Both members of the German Bundestag (English: parliament) expressed their willingness to address these points in the discussion with the BMELV.

This year during the international quality control of the German agricultural society, DLG (German: Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft {DLG}), the family business Coppenrath from Groß Hesepe once again attained exceptional results.

Nine fine pastries, ranging from popular house pastries and traditional spritz pastries to other spekulatius variants, were awarded the prestigious golden DLG award. The gluten-free products were especially convincing on account of their taste; they received the golden DLG prize with the following comment:

""Congratulations on your exceptional products. The quality has convinced the experts in full.“

This award, given by an independent body, once again underlines the high quality of Coppenrath:

The family business, led by Andreas Coppenrath, is already producing fine pastries for six generations and sells them worldwide in over 50 countries. Choice ingredients, experienced professionals and gentle baking processes guarantee the highest palate pleasures for the consumer.

""To be actively and wholeheartedly involved, to honor the old and, at the same time, dare to try the new - this is our conviction, and it characterizes us as a family business; it distinguishes our company from many anonymous large-scale corporations," Andreas Coppenrath explained as he was deliberating on his successful strategy for the company.