Commitment to the next generations

Bakery School Foundation

We believe that making a contribution to society matters. It is our commitment to the next generation.

Consumer taste is becoming increasingly Westernized, leading to an increased demand for finished goods such as cakes, pastries and chocolates.

Supermarkets, bakeries and cake shops, as well as hotels and cruise ships, all want to increase the range of products they have to offer, but many of them suffer from a significant shortage of skilled labour.

Proud to have 12 schools open today!

Over the past years The Bakery School Foundation opened twelve Bakery Schools across the globe, dtermined to give young people the skills they need to work in the bakery, patisserie and chocolate sectors. The first school opened in India in 2014, followed by Brazil in 2015, and the third school in Mexico mid-2018,  in February 2019 the Bakery School South Africa, in September 2020 the Bakery School Romania opened its doors, followed by the Philippines in 2021, the USA and Lebanon in 2022 as well as a second school in Romania. The two latest additions are the Bakery School in El Salvador and Vietnam in 2023. Any many more will follow.

In 2024 we will add three more Bakery Schools in Turkey, Ethiopia and the Dominican Republic.

The schools bring a hopeful future to underprivileged youngsters, provides much-needed financial support to their families and finally, it creates skilled labor and benefit the whole community.

We are glad to see our project grow. We aim for 1000 students following classes in our school’s worldwide, soon. 

Training has been designed to give underprivileged youngsters practical instruction in bakery, patisserie, and chocolate alongside standard subjects such as maths and English, needed to make a decent living in the future.

Purpose

The Bakery School Foundation manages and coordinates the Bakery Schools in developing countries worldwide and is responsible for safeguarding and maintaining a uniform policy and quality standards for all schools.

The Bakery School Foundation:

  • Sets-up and promotes teaching and education
  • Promotes the concept and practice of fair trade;
  • Contributes to the social, economic and ecological sustainable development of disadvantaged producers and workers in developing countries;
  • Assists all other good works and welfare works, without any distinction, and in particular the teaching and education of disadvantaged children;
  • Establishes and participates in similar non-profit associations at home and abroad, establishing and managing Bakery Schools for disadvantaged children, encouraging employment.

Vision

We believe that the growing Bakery, Patisserie and Chocolate sector will continue to have a lack of well trained and skilled labor in the future.

Mission

We are committed to have a important impact on the life of underprivileged youngsters by training them to become future Bakers, Patisseries and Chocolatiers.

Daily management

The Steering Committee is in charge of daily management and decision taking, including the founding members and Directors.

We have made an important commitment to ensure the students that graduate from the Bakery School find a job.

The students have the opportunity to work either with the Apprentice Programme at Puratos or be hired as a professional beginner in the sector.

The end employers of our graduates are very impressed by the quality and efficiency of their work. Some of them have even asked to be listed as permanent potential employers in the future.

What are the Bakery School Foundation funds used for?

All collected funds are transferred entirely to the Bakery School Foundation, to be used to :

  • Support in covering the daily costs of the Bakery Schools activities
  • Further enhance the quality of the training
  • Buy new materials
  • Promote the initiatives and the curriculum locally
  • … and many more initiatives and activities contributing positively to a better training and curriculum, a better student experience and develop the future skills of our students.

Governance

The Bakery School Foundation Private Stichting/Fondation Privée is an initiative of the Puratos Group, with worldwide headquarters in Groot-Bijgaarden, Belgium.

The Bakery School Foundation was established on 18 May 2016 by three founding members, all associated with the Puratos Group: Puratos Group NV, Puratos NV and Coprem NV.

The object of the Foundation can only be amended by a majority of four-fifths of the votes of the working members of the Foundation.