Anger, ignorance and financial losses - bakers experienced difficult times
Created: 2022-02-11, 8:45 p.m
By Phillip Plesch
Basic supply of bread: Heinrich Traublinger in his bakery.
© blende11_photographers
The corona pandemic has determined our lives for two years.
It went hand in hand with existential fears and the renunciation of joie de vivre.
Munich reveal what this time of crisis cost them.
Heinrich Traublinger (56) had a lot backed up during the corona pandemic.
He is the managing director of the bakery of the same name and has been foreman of the Munich and Landsberg bakers’ guild since September 2020.
His anger is directed at politics: "Often the regulations were published on Saturday and should be implemented on Monday," he scolds.
That is simply impossible if you have to inform all your staff in the branches beforehand.
On the other hand, in his opinion, the bakeries were not mentioned again and again.
"Politicians always spoke only of the supermarkets that are allowed to remain open," complains Traublinger.
"But the fact that we make up a very significant proportion of the population's basic needs was simply forgotten." The uncertainty created by this ignorance is a problem the extent of which the bakers are still feeling.
Traublinger had to close four branches
Of course, there were also financial losses.
"When the cafés were closed, schools were only in distance classes and trade fairs and weddings were canceled, this turnover collapsed almost 100 percent," says the 56-year-old.
Four of the 21 Traublinger branches had to be closed.
The classic baked goods business was good, but was far from able to compensate for the high losses.
In the worst phase of the pandemic, Traublinger's sales fell by 28 percent.
So the company got off relatively well.
Cafe-heavy businesses lost up to 90 percent.
But the foreman also draws positive aspects from the crisis: "It's nice that people are thinking about handcrafted regional bread again." He also hopes that the reputation of handicrafts will grow again.