Café Nenninger in Kassel: reopening with fresh bread and more!

Café Nenninger in Kassel: reopening with fresh bread and more!

The traditional café Nenninger on Friedrichsplatz in Kassel will reopen on May 28, 2025. The new operators, Carina and Andreas Hermann from Rosdorf near Göttingen, took over the café in July 2024 and plan to significantly expand the range. In addition to the already familiar tarts and cakes, fresh bread, rolls, sandwiches and coffee to go will also be offered in the future. The operators not only want to expand the offering for the city center, but also create an attractive place to go, especially during the lunch break. In addition, the café remains open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., which discovers availability and enriches the gastronomic offerings in the region.

An oven was installed last summer to make fresh bread and rolls. In the future, these products will be supplemented with pastries such as pig's ears and almond rolls. In addition, a traditional tree cake is delivered in autumn from a specialized pastry shop in North Rhine-Westphalia. In addition to these new products, Nenninger specialties such as quiche and green sauce remain in the range.

Bankruptcy and new beginnings

The reopening follows a difficult period for the cafe. The previous operator Carsten Lehmann filed for bankruptcy in April 2024 after he was clearly unable to overcome the challenges of the catering business in January 2023. High rental costs, rising VAT and the ever-increasing costs of energy and raw materials were the main causes of the café's financial misery. The location in the Dez shopping center was particularly problematic, as it struggled with high vacancies and high rental costs [direktinsolvenz.de] reports.

With the bankruptcy of the old operator, the new operators are also faced with the challenge of gaining a foothold in the crisis-ridden catering industry. According to a study by the credit agency Creditreform, around 48,000 businesses have closed since 2020 and there were 14,000 closures in 2023 alone, which has put an enormous strain on the industry. These circumstances make the return of Café Nenninger all the more significant, as it represents an attempt to create a new offering in a difficult market segment [tagesschau.de] reports.

A look at the gastronomy

The catering industry as a whole is faced with enormous challenges. The increase in sales tax to 19 percent since January 2024 is just one of the problems plaguing restaurateurs. After all, 88 percent of insolvencies affect small businesses with up to ten employees, and these are often the most vulnerable to economic uncertainty. The federal government temporarily reduced the tax rate during the corona pandemic, which placed additional strain on the situation after the return to normality [tagesschau.de] reported.

Overall, the outlook for the catering industry is bleak. Experts predict an increase in insolvency cases to pre-pandemic levels, which could threaten the existence of many operating concepts. The path of Café Nenninger could therefore serve as a positive example of the realignment and revival of a traditional company in an economic sector shaken by crises.