Editing Loacker

{{short description|Italian confectionery company}}
{{for|the Austrian bobsledder|Jürgen Loacker}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Loacker S.p.A.<br/>Loacker AG
| logo = Logo Loacker Heritage Shield RGB.png
| type = ''[[Società per azioni]]''
| industry = [[Food industry|Food]]
| founded = {{start date and age|April 3, 1925|p=y}} in [[Bolzano]], [[South Tyrol]], Italy
| founder = Alfons Loacker
| hq_location = [[Ritten|Auna di Sotto/Unterinn]], South Tyrol
| hq_location_country = Italy
| key_people = <ul><li>Andreas Loacker</li><li>Christine Loacker Zuenelli</li><li>Martin Loacker</li><li>Ulrich Zuenelli (president)</li></ul>
| products = {{ubl|[[Wafer]]s|[[Chocolate]]s}}
| revenue = €435.45 million <small>(2023)</small>
| num_employees = 1,153 <small>(January 2024)</small>
| website = {{URL|www.loacker.com}}
}}

'''Loacker''' ({{IPA|de-AT|ˈloːakɐ|lang}},<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T6vWCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA561&lpg=PA561&dq=loacker&source=bl&ots=SOoalKEfTR&sig=ACfU3U1IFtn5LywUu8UiAo1nFOfzulubLA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwidnNCpt6XgAhUkyoUKHaSmAJcQ6AEwC3oECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=loacker&f=false|page=561|title=Duden - Das Aussprachewörterbuch: Betonung und Aussprache von über 132.000 Wörtern und Namen|language=de|date=2015|publisher=Bibliographisches Institut GmbH|isbn=9783411911516|accessdate=February 5, 2019}}</ref> {{IPA|it|loˈaːker|lang}})<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dipionline.it/dizionario/ricerca?lemma=Loacker|title=Loacker|work=DiPI Online|accessdate=February 5, 2019}}</ref> is an Italian confectionery company based in [[South Tyrol]], specialized in the production of [[wafer]]s, [[chocolate]] and derivative products.

==History==
[[File:Loacker Quadratini, napolitaner.jpg|thumb|Loacker's [[Quadratini]] wafer biscuits]]The company was founded in 1925 in the historic city center of [[Bolzano]] by the Austrian confectioner Alfons Loacker.<ref name="origins">{{cite web |title=Le nostre origini - radici regionali, presenza mondiale |url=http://www.loacker.it/it/che-bonta/le-nostre-origini/ |publisher=Loacker |language=Italian |accessdate=10 July 2017 |archive-date=23 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423083501/http://www.loacker.it/it/che-bonta/le-nostre-origini/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="sky">{{Cite web |date=21 January 2019 |title=Storia della Loacker di Bolzano, dai wafer alle praline di cioccolato |url=https://tg24.sky.it/cronaca/2019/01/21/wafer-loacker-bolzano-storia.html |access-date=22 January 2019 }}</ref> Back then, he opened a small store with two assistants in Piazza Domenicani.<ref name="sky2">{{cite web |url=https://tg24.sky.it/cronaca/2019/01/21/wafer-loacker-bolzano-storia.html |title=Storia della Loacker di Bolzano, dai wafer alle praline di cioccolato |date=21 January 2019 |access-date=22 January 2019}}</ref> 
In 1974, Loacker moved away from the city, marking the transition from a small regional [[bakery]] to an industrial reality. Armin Loacker, Alfons' son, chose the [[Renon]] plateau in the heart of the [[Dolomites]] to produce his own wafers.

== Manufacturing ==
Loacker nowadays has two plants, one in Auna di Sotto on the Renon and a second one in Heinfels in East Tyrol (Austria). At both production sites wafers and chocolate specialties are produced at more than 1,000 meters above sea level. Today, the third generation leads the company: Armin's sons Andreas and Martin Loacker together with his nephew Ulrich Zuenelli who works as executive chairman.

As of 2021, Loacker has 1,153 employees. 
In 2021, 1.03 billion single pieces were produced and 35,729 tons of products were sold which amounted to net sales of €435.45 million. Italy, the United States, and Saudi Arabia were the highest-consuming countries, followed by Israel and China.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Panoramica su Loacker |url=https://www.loacker.com/it/it/chi-siamo/informazioni-sulla-nostra-azienda}}</ref>

In 2022, Loacker announced the initiation of a multi-year partnership with [[Sammontana]] for the production of a new range of Loacker-branded ice creams.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sammontana e Loacker, una partnership di bontà |url=https://www.mark-up.it/sammontana-e-loacker-una-partnership-di-bonta/}}</ref>

== Products and ingredients ==
The Napolitaner (Hazelnut) flavored ranges are amongst Loacker's best-known products. The name "Napolitaner" derives from the hazelnuts which represent the main ingredient of the cream in the wafers and used to be sourced from plantations near [[Naples]].

Nowadays, Loacker has initiated four sustainability pathways for both production and sourcing of raw materials, aiming to increase verticalization of its own supply chain.

In addition to the vanilla Bourbon pods from Madagascar and the cocoa beans cultivated in Ecuador and the Ivory Coast, Loacker uses milk powder from Dolomites Milk in Vandoies for its dairy creams. Dolomites Milk is a joint venture between Loacker and the South Tyrolean dairy cooperative BRIMI which comprises 1,100 local farmers. This 10,000 m<sup>2</sup> facility is the first plant which is specialized in whey and milk powder in Italy.

Loacker covers part of its hazelnut supply needs through products coming from two company-owned farms located in Tuscany and orchards of 90 more farms which are part of a cultivation project with based on supply chain contracts in Veneto, Umbria, Tuscany and Marche.

Furthermore, Loacker distributes products branded by [[Lorenz Snack-World|Lorenz]], Pema, [[Twinings]], Ovomaltine and Darbo in Italy.

== Loacker Café ==
Besides the production and sale of its own products to both small and large distributors, the group also comprises five Loacker Cafés, all of which are located in [[Tyrol]].

These Cafés represent a mix between a store, where the entire Loacker product assortment is sold, and a confectionery, where people can enjoy freshly baked goods and high-quality coffee. The Cafés are located at historically and strategically important sites to the company, including Bolzano's Piazza Walther in its historic city center, the Twenty shopping mall, the Outlet Center Brennero, Piazza Fiera in Trento and Heinfels, right next to Loacker's production site in Eastern Tyrol.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.loacker.com/ Company website]
* [http://loackerusa.com/  Loacker U.S. website]
* {{Commons category-inline}}

[[Category:Food and drink companies established in 1925]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies based in South Tyrol]]
[[Category:1925 establishments in Italy]]
[[Category:Italian brands]]
[[Category:Confectionery companies of Italy]]