Price increases are notorious - and vegetables, like the energy sector, are particularly hard hit.
How does this affect Miesbach?
Miesbach -
Franz Manhart stands behind fruit and vegetable boxes. Alternately packed with leeks, oranges or fragrant figs, he walks back and forth between the customer and the price scale. He has pulled the zipper of his jacket all the way up - single-digit temperatures make the market Thursday in Miesbach more uncomfortable than in the previous weeks. But it's not just the temperatures that have changed drastically in recent times: the prices also put some customers off. A trend across Germany - which is also reflected in Miesbach.
The Federal Statistical Office writes: "Not only the prices for energy products, but also the prices for food rose by an above-average 4.9 percent in September 2021 compared to the same month last year." Vegetables (9.2 percent) and dairy products in particular have risen noticeably and eggs (5.5 percent).
Vegetables at the Miesbach weekly market: Stand operator understands general price increases
This development is clearly noticeable for Manhart.
However, the Oberwittelsbacher understands - because he thinks that producers have to earn more.
In his homeland in Swabia, the farmer produces some of his products himself. He says: “Our food has to become more expensive so that something gets through to the farmer.” He believes that market customers know that.
"Here quality is more important to the people than the last price." Since the pandemic, people have cooked more themselves again.
"As a result, customers appreciate the value of the products."
Fruit: Bad harvests are also responsible for rising prices
Michael Anzinger can also confirm this for his fruit stand.
For years he has regularly stood between the Bräuwirt and Märchenbrunnen - and is increasingly surprised at the prices in supermarkets.
"You can't actually sell a bowl of strawberries for 1.99 euros these days - who is supposed to earn money there?"
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Read also: Inflation, lack of raw materials, crop failures: In autumn and winter, consumers will experience a real price explosion for food.
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On the market, comparisons are made more between the stands and less between the prices of the previous months.
That only makes sense, because: “With fruit and vegetables there are more factors than just inflation.” Bad harvests play a role as well as increased personnel and energy costs.
And the latter recorded an increase of 14.3 percent from September 2020 to September 2021, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Delicatessen is hit by Brexit - "Goods from Scotland"
In Miesbach, therefore, not only supra-regional price developments but also national and global increases have an impact.
This is also the case with Isabella Moser, stand operator of the delicatessen of the same name from the district town.
“Fish prices have literally exploded in the past few weeks,” she says.
This is due to the Brexit: “We purchase a lot of goods from Scotland.” The catering industry also takes a majority of the delivery quantities - so fish is becoming more expensive in retail.
But Moser does not want to complain.
It relies on mixed calculations to cushion extreme climbs.
Bäcker informs customers: "The supply situation is very tense"
Master baker Florian Perkmann has a similar view.
The vice-guild master from Miesbach knows: “You want to stay competitive.” But it is also clear: “In the future, not everything will always be available.
The times of oversupply are over. ”Superfood from overseas, for example, is in demand - but difficult to reconcile with customer-friendly prices.
"So I want to go back to regional raw materials - you can also eat very healthy with them," says the baker with a smile.
Despite all the price increases, his business is doing well.
Increased fuel prices, personnel costs, CO2 taxes, packaging shortages and the rest of the list that Perkmann could continue for a long time, the baker still has to allocate.
“Communication is important here,” he knows.
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The notice at the Perkmann bakery in Miesbach.
© Thomas Plettenberg
That is why there is a note in his Miesbach branch: “We have been confronted with dramatic price developments for raw materials and production costs for some time;
The supply situation is also very tense.
For these reasons, we feel compelled to adjust our prices. ”Raw material, production and ancillary wage costs have increased since the last price adjustment in 2017.
Now the safeguarding of jobs, quality, service and profitability are crucial.
"The customers still accept it," says Perkmann.
In Germany, the value of food has not reached everyone.
But: "People are slowly returning to quality."
Butcher is holding back with price adjustments - "Regular customers have to be retained"
For Hanni Huber, managing director of the Bräuwirt and the associated butcher's shop, customers are king.
“We haven't caught up with the prices yet,” she says.
Regular customers have to be retained - and they are currently unsettled anyway.
“We only adjust when things get serious,” says the managing director.
If suppliers change their lists, however, they will also do one thing: "Inform customers."
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