"Price increase inevitable": Now noodles are also becoming scarce and more expensive - manufacturers warn
Created: 04/11/2022Updated: 04/11/2022, 11:40 am
By: Magdalena von Zumbusch
Like many other food groups, pasta is currently becoming significantly more expensive.
© Bernd Wüstneck/dpa
Noodles are one of the foods whose prices have risen sharply against the background of the Ukraine war.
The product is also being hoarded again and is therefore sometimes scarce.
Berlin - The Ukraine war has consequences for the pasta manufacturers in Germany.
Since the costs of production (especially for raw materials, energy and logistics) are rising sharply, the costs for end users in supermarkets such as Aldi, Rewe, Edeka and Co. have also risen sharply.
Reason for rising pasta prices at Aldi, Rewe and others: the Ukraine war
According to the Association of the Grain, Milling and Starch Industry in Berlin (VGMS), the escalating Ukraine conflict is having a massive impact on pasta manufacturers in Germany.
The war had exacerbated the already tense situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, said the managing director of the VGMS Peter Haarbeck of the German Press Agency (dpa).
Energy supply, raw material procurement, packaging and logistics are affected.
According to Haarbeck, the companies would have to take the increased costs into account when determining their prices in order to secure their existence.
He cannot say how high the price increases will be in the end.
"Since we already have to pay higher prices for our high-quality raw materials, a price increase is unavoidable," said a spokeswoman for the Swabian pasta manufacturer Bürger, according to dpa.
The company from the district of Ludwigsburg is currently in price negotiations with its trading partners.
Raw materials, packaging materials, but also the transport costs are increasing extremely.
According to the spokeswoman, suppliers are currently no longer able to supply the company on the agreed terms.
Germany relies on the import of durum wheat semolina for pasta production
Mike Hennig, Managing Director of Pasta Riesa, draws a similar picture.
The conflict in Ukraine and the associated economic impact made the situation, which was already rising, much worse.
The company from Riesa in the Meissen district will have to react to developments in order to survive the crisis.
"Our customers and consumers have to reckon with higher food prices," says Managing Director Hennig.
When it comes to durum wheat semolina, which is necessary for production, Germany is dependent on imports, explained VGMS Managing Director Haarbeck.
Although Russia and Ukraine do not play a major role in the global supply of durum wheat, the war in Ukraine has disrupted the supply chains.
This circumstance is primarily the cause of the supply problems.
In addition, the harvest in Canada, the most important exporter of durum wheat semolina, fell sharply last year after a very hot and dry summer.
After all, the general uncertainty on the raw materials markets and the high demand for grain as a whole have now also caused the price of durum wheat to rise.
Aldi, Lidl, Rewe, Edeka and Co.: Noodles are not only more expensive, but also scarce due to hamster purchases
The pasta manufacturers would hardly be able to keep up with the demand from the retail trade.
"Like at the beginning of the pandemic, people buy large quantities of pasta because they can be stored very well," says Haarbeck, which can already be observed in the supermarkets.
The supply is currently secured: But if people buy far more than they need to, it pushes the logistics from the manufacturers to the supermarket to the limit of their capacities.
(dpa
)
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