Gas crisis reaches the supermarkets: Numerous products could soon disappear from the shelves

Created: 07/31/2022, 04:59 am

By: Stella Henrich

The gas crisis could mean that some groceries will soon disappear from the shelves of supermarkets and discounters.

Munich - The gas crisis could soon mean that groceries in supermarkets could no longer be in stock as usual.

If the raw material gas should actually become scarce in this country - fueled by the war in Ukraine - some foods could no longer be produced for months.

This applies not only to dairy products, but also to sweets and baked goods.

Not only the dairy industry is warning that a gas delivery stop could plunge the industry into a serious crisis.

There is a risk of production stops, bankruptcies and higher prices, which the consumer will then feel.

Milk expert Ludwig Huber, CEO of the Dairy Association Milch Bayern eV, warns on

that the supply of milk and cheese will then collapse and price increases will be inevitable.

And Günther Felßner, deputy head of the Bavarian Farmers' Association, blows the same horn as his colleague: If the gas is turned off, then twelve hours later the milk will no longer be collected from the farms, and a day or two later there will be none Dairy products more on the supermarket shelves.

But "if you don't have anything to eat, then that's a huge problem," quoted

the milk experts.

Energy crisis in retail: Empty shelves and higher prices are the result

Consumers are already increasingly finding themselves in front of empty shelves in supermarkets and discounters, looking for flour, sunflower oil, pasta, parmesan, eggs, rice and honey.

The Ukraine war makes it clear what it means when international trade routes are blocked and energy supplier Russia turns off the gas supply to Europe.

The concerns of farmers and stakeholders are therefore not unfounded.

If there are gaps in the gas supply, the entire production chain is at risk, from the farmer through the packaging industry to the finished dairy product such as yoghurt, cheese or cream.

In the alpine dairy, milk is processed into dairy products such as cheese, butter, buttermilk and yoghurt.

(symbol image) © imago

Till Schütte, spokesman for the Swabian Gropper dairy, therefore advocates an energy mix in production.

This could consist of a photovoltaic system and its own combined heat and power plant in order to become less dependent on Russian gas, Schütte told

.

However, the existing systems cannot be converted to other energy sources so quickly, adds Schütte.

Gas crisis in trade: non-systemically important industry is turned off

Should the raw material gas become scarce in the course of the year, gas could be rationed.

A plan of who will then receive exactly how much gas is still in preparation.

According to Klaus Müller, President of the Federal Network Agency, products and offers that fall into the leisure and well-being area could not be supplied with gas in case of doubt.

The expert told

.

In an emergency, the Federal Network Agency would order gas reductions in the industry, said Müller - to ward off such a pressure drop.

It is also conceivable that swimming pools heat their water less or not at all.

In addition, non-systemically important industry would have to go offline, Müller warned at the beginning of July this year.

As an example, Müller cited a factory for chocolate biscuits.

At least the scenario of the head of the Federal Network Agency does not deter Nestlé, the world's largest food company and the largest industrial company in Switzerland.

The maker of Kitkat, Smarties, Lion chocolate bars and After Eight has already adjusted its plants in Germany to deal with the shortage of gas,

reports .

With the result that essential products would be produced with priority.

Sweets are not part of it - and would then be in short supply among retailers.

Whether the shelf with the colorful gold bears from Haribo will end up empty or whether it will lead to even higher prices is an open question.

However, the group reacted to the energy crisis in April and passed higher prices on to consumers.

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Gas crisis in trade: Key word is "systemically important"

The keyword in the gas crisis in Germany seems to be "systemically important".

Which manufacturer that actually is could become a controversial issue in the coming weeks.

In any case, the dairies themselves count as part of the critical infrastructure, reports

, and would have to be supplied with gas if the worst came to the worst.

There is agreement that critical infrastructure primarily includes the areas of health and energy.

Hospitals and the power supply in general are therefore at the top of the list of areas worthy of protection.

But nutrition is not one of them at the moment.

In the end, politicians will decide which products will end up in consumers' shopping carts in the future or will be thrown off the shelves of supermarkets and discounters.

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