Gerd Ahlers sells the finest in English foodstuffs through his Heilbronn-based company TopFood GmbH. His range of products include Duchy Originals, the biscuits produced by Price Charles’ organic company in Cornwall, the traditional Walkers Shortbread biscuits, delicate Bendix of Mayfair mint pralines, assorted jams and marmalades as well as Jackson’s Piccadilly tea.

Ahlers has been so successful with his British import business that the queen awarded him the order “Officers of the British Empire” on 31 January of this year. This distinction isn’t given to just anyone. Former Stuttgart Lord Mayor Manfred Rommel is one of this illustrious group (he was even named ‘Commander’), along with Professor Manfred Liedtke from Heidelberg and Lord Mayor of Biberach Thomas Fettback. Gerd Ahlers’ love of all things English dates back to the first days following the war when the friendly “Tommies” in his hometown in Niedersachsen gave him a bar of chocolate. According to Ahlers, this award “... is an incredible honour, especially since it was signed by both the Queen of England and Prince Charles.”

His daughter Caren Kroetz, who now manages the business, says that the award also involves several enjoyable privileges. The family has been welcomed to St. James Palace many times and has spent a good deal of time with Prince Charles. She would even have the right to marry in St. Paul’s Cathedral. “If you look at it that way, I got married too early.”