‘Everything I learned about this company comes from my parents’

For the first article about the generation change, our magazine interviewed the former and the current managing directors of Detki Keksz Kft., Olga Pavlova and Péter Koósa.

How did the story of Detki Keksz start?

P.O.: – We started the company in 1983, it was established by three firms. Between 1983 and 1991 my husband Kálmán Koósa was leading the company. I took over in 1991 and was the managing director until 2019. My son, Péter Koósa has been working in the company for almost 12 years now, and in the last 3 years, we managed it together.

What was it like to find yourself in the daily operations of Detki Keksz?

K. P.: – It didn’t happen overnight, as already before 2010 I was working on restructuring the company’s business management system. When my father got ill, my mother decided to resign and delegate her tasks to me.

For 36 years your family has been managing the company. Olga, Péter just took over from you: what are those things about which you two think the same way?

P.O.: – First and foremost remaining fair and honest, no matter what the conditions are, in our relationship with suppliers, employees and customers.

K.P.: – I am very lucky that my parents were leading the company. There is no big difference in our way of thinking.

In what sense are you different?

K. P.: – My mother is a person of emotions and I am more a man of numbers.

P. O.: – Péter focuses on the numbers and instantly finds where the problem lies. I often used to make decisions about the company listening to my intuitions.

It seems that both methods work, as Detki Keksz is very successful…

K.P.: – My mother is a brilliant person, who can do so many things without having to make a great effort.

P.O.: – Péter is building a large company from a medium-sized one. What he needs isn’t advice but someone to listen to him speak his mind, and I am here for that. The company’s last 12 months with him were more successful than my final year in the director’s seat!

How did you give Péter the knowledge that the needs for managing the company?

P.O.: – This process was years long. My husband was a natural-born engineer, and Péter inherited his technical vein from him. What I gave him were the commercial side and the connections.

K.P.: – Everything I learned about this company comes from my parents. I saw how they were doing things, from production to sales. They were together for 46 years, they were absolutely on the same wavelength. My parents taught me to think independently and to be never afraid to ask questions. The most important thing that I saw was how well they managed the people around them: my parents made them feel equal.

Olga, was it difficult for you to step down?

P.O.: – I had no choice, I had to let it go. 2019 was the most difficult year in my life…my late husband and I had spent 46 years together. I still keep in touch with old partners on behalf of the company and this is enough for me.

Péter, what are your plans, what comes next?

K.P.: – I have been managing director for 2 years, I am taking one step at a tome and we keep going forward. Detki Keksz Kft. is always innovating and I am very proud of our sugar- and gluten-free portfolio and our salty product innovations. Our main strategies are increasing brand equity and innovating. //