August Oetker

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Dr. August Oetker (German pronunciation: [ˈaʊɡʊst ˈʔœtkɐ]; 6 January 1862 – 10 January 1918) was a German inventor, food scientist and businessman. He is known as the creator of baking powder as a ready-to-use product, and also as the founder of the Dr. Oetker company.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Oetker was born on 6 January 1862 in Obernkirchen, Germany.

Career[]

In 1891, he bought the Aschoffsche pharmacy in Bielefeld and developed a baking agent, which was designed to ensure the success of the baking process. Prior to Oetker, a British chemist, Alfred Bird, had already invented baking powder.

From 1890, he distributed his invention under the brand name Backin, thus laying the basis for the family-owned company, called Oetker-Gruppe. This company still uses the very same recipe to produce baking powder. On 21 September 1909, Oetker filed a patent for his Procedure for making long-lasting baking powder or ready-to-bake flour.

Due to successful marketing, his products sold quite well and soon the old pharmacy had turned into a successful company. In 1900, he built his first manufacturing plant and by 1906 had sold 50 million packages of Backin.

Death and legacy[]

The 1903 patent

He died on 10 January 1918 in Bielefeld, Germany. Later, Oetker's grandson Rudolf August Oetker took over the company.

Motto: Ein heller Kopf verwendet stets Oetker. ("A bright mind always uses Oetker.").

See also[]

• Oetker Collection
• Alfred Bird, inventor of Bird's custard and also the first baking powder in 1843
• Henry Jones, a Bristol baker who patented self-raising flour in 1845, as a means of providing fresh bread on ships.

External links[]

• Works by August Oetker at Project Gutenberg