August Oetker was born on 6 January 1862 in Obernkirchen, Germany.

From 1890, he distributed his invention under the brand name Backin, thus laying the basis for the family-owned company, called Oetker-Gruppe. This company still uses the very same recipe to produce baking powder. On 21 September 1909, Oetker filed a patent for his Procedure for making long-lasting baking powder or ready-to-bake flour.

In 1891, he bought the Aschoffsche pharmacy in Bielefeld and developed a baking agent, which was designed to ensure the success of the baking process. Prior to Oetker, a British chemist, Alfred Bird, had already discovered baking powder.

Due to successful marketing, his products sold quite well and soon the old pharmacy had turned into a successful company. In 1900, he built his first manufacturing plant and by 1906 had sold 50 million packages of Backin.

He died on 10 January 1918 in Bielefeld, Germany. Later, Oetker’s grandson Rudolf August Oetker took over the company.