A pancake is not a biscuit, court rules in pension dispute

A pancake baker who refused to put his staff’s pension contributions into the confectionery makers’ pension fund has won his case – because a pancake (pannenkoek) is not a biscuit (koek).

The fund had demanded the staff be included in the sector-wide fund, arguing that the company was a producer of biscuits and other confectionery. If the baker had lost, it would have cost him €8.5m in back-dated contributions.

The pancake baker has organised his pension affairs through Aegon since 2000 and argued that he did not have to subscribe to the sector scheme.

The court in Rotterdam went into details about the difference between pancakes and biscuits, including their ingredients and the way they are cooked, in order to reach its verdict.

For example, milk is a primary ingredient in pancakes but not biscuits, and pancakes are cooked on a hot plate not in an oven, the court said.