All you knead is love

It has been two years since Markus Hofmueller took over the management of a bakery from his fellow German compatriots, saying he made a good decision. Bach's Bakery, located in Changsha, Central China's Hunan province, is popular among the locals for hiring bakers with hearing impairments.

Hofmueller always believed that running the bakery was a good opportunity to learn about management, finances and customer service, he says. "I am busy every day. We start at 7 am and I spend most of the time in the office and leave the bakery to the chefs," he adds.

In the first year, he spent a lot of time in the kitchen, but believed interpersonal relations were the key to the bakery's success. All enterprises can face tension among the employees, so ironing out difficulties and overcoming issues is crucial.

The bakery's employees are a priority. "I'm happiest when I see them grow in the job," he says. "They accumulate more skills and knowledge and keep improving, which I value the most."

Hofmueller says that the bakery exists because of the bakers. He wants people to learn skills to support their families or even own a business in the future.

Chief baker Wang Ting has worked there for seven years and says that working helped her improve her baking and management skills. She is also Hofmueller's sign language teacher, helping him to better communicate with other employees.

Hofmueller thinks that attention to detail is what makes the bakers special. "Because they cannot hear, they pay more attention to what they see, especially details others tend to overlook," he says.

Such attention to detail is important for the bakery because bread quality can be judged by its appearance, he explains.

Hofmueller recalls that he had no hesitation when he took over the management of the bakery from the previous owner Uwe Brutzer and his wife in 2022. They ran the bakery for 11 years and returned to Germany because they felt homesick.

"When I stepped into the store, I knew it was what I wanted. Whenever I make big decisions like this, I follow my heart," Hofmueller says.

His love for baking and an interest in the hearing-impaired were his prime motivations.

He and his wife have added new flavors and launched a WeChat account and mini-program. In one of the bakery's WeChat posts, it states that the bakery wants to become a meeting place for everyone.

Being an expat, whenever Hofmueller would see foreign customers in the store, he would make a point to chat with them.

During last Thanksgiving Day, the bakery made pumpkin pies to celebrate. When an American couple came into the store, Hofmueller taught them how to say "sweet", "coffee" and "hot chocolate" in sign language.

They later returned to the store with roses for each employee.

Meanwhile, many people in Changsha have supported the bakery, according to Hofmueller. Guests come to the store to eat and gather, and he often jokes that the people of Changsha run the store with him.

When Hofmueller made a post asking where he should buy an oven on his WeChat moments, he received many suggestions. After he posted about one of his employees falling ill last year, local doctors suggested remedies.

Cao Xuechi, 19, a college student in Changsha, says that he came to the store by accident. After he heard that the bread is made by hearing-impaired bakers, he found it more meaningful.

The bakery aims to assist and train more people, not just the hearing-impaired, Hofmueller says, adding that he wants to continue training more extensively and professionally.

He also wants to work with vocational schools so his employees can learn bakery skills with other students.

"No matter what I do, I feel a strong sense of destiny. It is not to say that I will do this for the rest of my life but I am certain I want to do this now. I trust my heart," he says.

Hu Sirui contributed to the story.