To buy a baguette, you will have to pay a little more. The rise in its price, already noted in recent months, should continue its momentum: caught between the rally in energy and that in raw materials, some bakers will probably have no choice but to sacrifice their margins.
For bakers, everything increases, and at the same time. After rising sharply in the summer of 2021, wheat prices have spiked again following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Although the millers temporized these increases by absorbing part of the additional cost, flour was not spared and saw its prices increase. The same goes for yeast, like the paper containers customers leave with. Not forgetting the revaluation of wages, which account for half the cost of producing a wand.
Energy is the “icing on the cake”, emphasizes Dominique Anract, president of the National Confederation of French Bakery and Pastry (CNBPF). The ovens, which consume a lot of energy, work with gas or electricity. The 2023 budget currently foresees that companies with less than ten employees will continue to benefit from the tariff shield next year: this affects a large number of bakeries but, even in this case, a 15% increase in energy prices . For large bakeries, the bill is likely to be high without a tariff shield.
Same for the croissants.
A classic baguette was sold for 94.5 euro cents on average in August 2022 according to INSEE figures, slowly approaching 1 euro (it was still selling for 90 cents a year earlier). The traditional baguette, for its part, has long surpassed this symbolic bar and is generally bought between 1 euro and 1.30 euros, or even a little more. According to CNBPF estimates, if the price of energy is multiplied by three, the baker would have to increase his prices between 10 and 15% to keep his business afloat; if multiplied by five, it would almost have to show a 50% increase.
This does not mean that all bakers raise their prices by this amount, but a several-cent increase is to be expected. Mechanically, in some bakeries, the price of the traditional baguette could reach the symbolic bar of 1.5 euros in the event of an increase – some rare establishments already sell it at this price. Above all because, according to Eurostat data, France is the country in the European Union where the price of bread has risen the least in a year (+8.2%), far behind Germany (+17.5%) or the neighboring Spain (+15.2). %).
Beyond the baguette, all baked goods could be affected, from snack foods to pastries and pastries. Butter, eggs and even chicken have seen their prices rise in recent months. The croissant can also be a bit more expensive.
Source: BFM TV
