Dutch bread sales are growing, yet bakeries continue to face high costs, pressure on margins and uncertainty about their biggest customers. As a result, production is shifting between companies and locations. We see this in the bakery machines offered via Troostwijk Auctions: from equipment freed up by modernisation to complete production lines after a closure.
Growing sales, but not more room for every bakery
According to the Netherlands Bakery Centre (NBC), total bread volume in the Netherlands grew by 3.7% in 2025, and bread turnover by 4.6%. Both supermarkets and craft bakers benefited. Still, bakeries face higher costs for staff, energy and raw materials, and price pressure from supermarkets is passed on to industrial bakeries. When a large customer switches supplier, a production line can suddenly lose much of its volume.
“Growth in bread sales doesn’t automatically mean every bakery has more financial room,” says Ward van den Boorn, Country Director Netherlands at Troostwijk Auctions. “When a bakery adjusts its production or closes a location, valuable machines can become available. Putting them to work at other businesses keeps them productive and frees up room to invest elsewhere.”
A recent example: Bakkerij Fuite
Fuite started as a village bakery in IJsselmuiden almost a century ago and grew into an industrial producer of bread for retail and foodservice. When the supermarket chain Boni merged with Nettorama, Fuite lost a major customer, and continuing production in Apeldoorn was no longer viable. Part of the production continues in Hardinxveld-Giessendam.
The Apeldoorn bread lines, industrial ovens and other bakery equipment were recently auctioned via Troostwijk Auctions, giving other bakeries the chance to expand, replace or adapt their own production.
Many reasons to sell bakery equipment
A closure is only one reason bakery machines come to auction. In 2024, Market Food Group closed the Bakkerij Smithuis site in Oldenzaal and moved production to Apeldoorn, where there was room to expand. That same year, Fuite itself used an auction to sell surplus machines and make room for new production lines. Modernisation, relocation, a business closure or a bankruptcy can all be the starting point.
“The reason for selling machines differs per bakery. One owner renews a line, another brings production together in one location or stops,” says Jasper Akkerman, Account Manager Food at Troostwijk Auctions. “We help find a next owner for the equipment, and we look across borders too, because a machine that’s no longer needed here can be a perfect fit elsewhere.”
Read the full press release (in Dutch): Bakkerijsector onder druk ondanks groeiende broodverkoop