Abendbrot: The rise of Shanghai's German bakery

Dark rye German bread may not be the first thing you think of when you wake up in Shanghai. But that could be about to change, if Karl-Heinz Tenne gets his way.

Tenne has successfully been managing Abendbrot, a German bakery in town, for the past three years. Abendbrot’s website service, two retail sites and a presence at numerous farmer’s market stalls have seen his dark rye German breads quickly spread into homes around the city, local as well as expat. 

But this European treat may have never seen the light of the baker's oven if it hadn't been for his chosen career, mechanical engineering, coming to a halt before he was ready to retire. 

Karl-Heinz Tenne and his baked goods at the Shanghai Center farmers market.

“During my first year here,” Tenne recalls, “I realized there were no good German breads available. When my contract ended, I was looking for a new job. But when you are 50 years old, you are more or less deemed too old for anything.” 

Tenne’s initial misfortune was a blessing in disguise for numerous Germans living in Shanghai. He launched Abendbrot in 2006, ditching mechanical engineering for the new vocation.

Tenne started off by flying in a German baker with more than fifteen years experience in the industry. But there was a very valuable ingredient missing from all the recipes. “Here in China there is no local rye flour on the market,” Tenne says. “It is all imported, but it is so expensive [in City Shop] that it is something like eight times the price in Germany. That’s really crazy!”

Tenne had to import the flour straight from Germany, shipping in two and a half tons at a time. Without the flour, there would be no traditional German bäckerei.

Even once the four was stocked, there were other problems to overcome. One of Tenne’s main concerns was tackling Shanghai’s temperature and humidity.

Bread dough has to be in a very controlled temperature to successfully allow the yeast to do its work.

Here in China there is no local rye flour on the market, it is all imported, but it is so expensive. [In City Shop] it is something like eight times the price in Germany. That’s really crazy!

— Karl-Heinz Tenne

Tenne explains, “If it becomes too hot, [the yeast] will die. If it is too cold, the bread will not rise. In the beginning, we didn’t realize that the weather would be such a big problem.”

Air conditioners had to be installed into the factory and more walls had to be built to shut out the sweltering weather.

Aside from that, Shanghai’s hectic traffic conditions posed another problem.

Tenne reflects, “In the start I was doing deliveries by myself and it was so tough. If you were late for one delivery, you were backed up for the rest of the day. Shanghai is such a big city and to manage all the requests coming from different areas was very difficult.”

Fortunately nowadays, Abendbrot has all their orders automated through their website. Two drivers leave the factory at four in the morning to beat peak hour traffic ensuring deliveries arrive before 8am. Just in time to go with some schinken (German cured ham), mustard and cheese for breakfast.

getting there

Abendbrot (Puxi)
453 Gaoguang Lu, near the French and German schools
Hours: 6:30am-7pm
tel +86 21 6923 3666

Abendbrot (Pudong)
1/F, 88 Keyuan at the German Centre
Hours: Monday-Friday 7am-9pm, Saturday & Sunday 8am-8pm
tel +86 21 2898 6733