The Oetker family controls Dr. Oetker, the German food and beverage company founded in 1891.
August Oetker created the business in Bielefeld after developing a reliably measured baking powder called Backin. The product made home baking easier because each packet was portioned for a standard amount of flour. The company later added frozen pizza, desserts, muesli and other foods.
Dr. Oetker also built a substantial hospitality and shipping portfolio. Its former business interests included the luxury hotel group Oetker Collection and Hamburg Süd, a major container shipping company. In 2021, the family reorganized its holdings into separate groups after disagreements among family branches.
The name is pronounced differently in different languages, but the company is not related to the American baking brand Fleischmann’s. Dr. Oetker remains one of Germany’s best-known family businesses.