About

Ever wondered who stands behind Gretel’s Gingerbread? 

It’s creator, Marianne Brunner, is a Swiss qualified pastry chef who moved away from her profession when she was 21 after realising that she needed to up-skill herself in order to get a job where she could utilise her language and people skills. 

After successfully completing a full time business course and on the job training with her future employer she spent the next 9 years with the Swiss Railways working in their travel agency in Zurich. 

Driven by challenges, Marianne and her partner William decided in 1998 to live in Auckland.  They both completed a New Zealand made Masters Degree which enabled Marianne to work in sales and marketing.

What next?  Mid 2007 Marianne decided she wanted to start her own business and it became obvious that it needed to be within the food industry again as there are a lot of undiscovered flavours which can be introduced to New Zealanders.  In addition, this area goes well with Marianne’s philosophy and passion: “Good food makes you happy” and regular exercise allows you to indulge.  Hence, Gretel’s Gingerbread was born, evolved and its products are appreciated by different people from all walks of life. 

We operate out of an A grade commercial kitchen. 

Gingerbread Tradition-History

Gingerbread or Lebkuchen as we call it in the German speaking part of Switzerland has been around for many thousand’s of years. Even Pharaoh Ramses III’s bakery used to make similar long keeping items.  Original it was a sacrificial offering to the gods. We are now re-introducing this old fashioned gingerbread to all of you who fancy a treat full of goodness.  We use an old Swiss Lebkuchen recipe to make our all-natural hand-made gingerbread. 

The main ingredients are: Honey, Sugar, Secret Blend of Spices, Flour, Eggs and Milk. 

The use of high quality New Zealand honey and a secret mix of spices makes our divine gingerbread soft textured with a well balanced flavour.  Honey is a natural performance enhancer & preservative and our blend of spices has stimulating and comforting attributes. Gretel’s Honey Gingerbread: Is hand made in New Zealand, all natural, soft-textured and comes with a comforting flavour! For more information, please visit our website: www.gretelsgingerbread.co.nz or call us on 09 4160601

    

 
Gifts & Treats

Some items under this category are products from other high quality New Zealand manufacturers whose range fits well with our products and philosophy. 

Gretel’s Design

The designs on our gingerbreads are Gretel’s inspiration and are influenced by every day experiences, nature, other artists‘ work or our customers.

Gretel’s Products - Nutritional Value

All our products have undergone extensive testing by Agri Quality (an approved food testing lab) and have detailed nutritional and ingredient information. 

 
Gretel’s Gingerbread - Trading Name & Trade Mark Registration

Our company is incorporated as MB Fine Foods Ltd also trading as Gretel’s Gingerbread.  The Ministry of Economic Development has issued a certificate of trade mark registration for Gretel’s Gingerbread, a treat full of goodness (including the logo). 

Our branding name is derived from Grimm’s fairy tale Hansel & Gretel. Unfortunately, Gretel got separated from Hansel many years ago and is now looking for him all over the place.  Therefore, she settled in New Zealand as she has heard that he might be living within the southern hemisphere. 
   

Illustration from Annabel Spenceley