Danish bakery Ole & Steen brews up success with buns on demand
International bakery Ole & Steen has reported a double-digit uplift in sales, boosted by online deliveries to business and consumers.
Turnover grew five per cent last year after a strategy revamp, with revenue increasing to £36m from £34m in 2023.
UK managing director Graham Hollinshead said the company has “firmly re-established [its] position as London’s favourite Danish bakery and coffee house.”
The private equity-backed bakery, which has 26 stores across London, was set up in 2008 in Copenhagen by founders Ole Kristoffersen and Steen Skallebaek.
It has since ridden the coffee shop boom in the UK – the market exceeded 10,000 outlets last year – to success, growing earnings for the year to £4.89m in 2024.
Last year’s “Refocused Strategy” saw a range of measures designed to bring new customers in, plus investment in its London production facility in Leyton.
Hollinshead said the key to growth has been to meet customers “where they are… in-store, online, and on special occasions like New Year, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day.”
“Customer convenience is core to our brand experience,” he added.
Doorstep deliveries
Ole & Steen’s expanded to three delivery platforms just last year, as well as introducing a new web-based ordering portal to serve offices.
The company’s Cinnamon Social bun was the 19th most-ordered item on Deliveroo last year in the UK and Ireland.
The move follows a push from the UK’s coffee industry to get online to find more customers as Brits increasingly turn to conveniece (and high streets become increasingly saturated with cafes).
Loyalty app membership, which offers click and collect services plus reward, also grew 40 per cent last year, the company said.
Last autumn saw some of Ole’s “best trading weeks ever,” with like-for-like sales up 17 per cent in the fourth quarter.
“Looking ahead, the business is poised to maintain strong trading performance and capitalise on efficiencies throughout 2025,” it said.