Farmers' Association: Bread will soon cost 10 euros!
In an interview, Baker reveals how bad it really is
Created: 04/06/2022, 15:08
By: Kai Lorenz
Soon a much more expensive commodity: bread from the baker.
© dpa
Thanks to Putin's Ukraine war, grain and energy prices are rising massively.
The bread needs both.
In an interview, the Kaufbeur baker Christian Körbe explains where the inflation is coming from and how bad it is getting.
Ostallgäu – Bread and rolls are becoming more expensive due to the war in Ukraine.
Small bakers in particular are struggling.
Because in addition to personnel costs, the costs for ingredients and energy, such as wheat and gas, are also increasing.
But bread is a special food and we Germans love it.
The announcement from the farmers' association that a loaf could cost ten euros in the future was all the more frightening.
How realistic is that?
Our editors followed up with the Ostallgäu bakers' guild.
His deputy foreman Christian Körber, owner of Körber's bakery in Kaufbeuren, answered questions.
The war in Ukraine is also having an impact on the local population and economy. If you look at the supermarket shelves at the moment, you will hardly find any wheat flour, or only rationed ones. To what extent is the bakery industry also affected by a wheat shortage?
Körber
: We Ostallgäu bakers value regionality.
Since we get our flour from our local master mills, we are not affected by this.
38 percent of the world wheat flour market comes from Russia and Ukraine.
This is often offered in discounters and supermarkets.
The supply there is scarcer and has to be partially rationed.
Can you make sure that we will continue to get our usual baked goods from our bakers in Ostallgäu in the future?
Körber
: By purchasing the basic raw materials regionally, we can guarantee security of supply.
It is possible that our diversity cannot always be maintained.
Individual special types of rolls or bread with seeds from overseas, such as pumpkin seeds, may not be available all the time.
Where will there be restrictions?
Körber
: The supply chains are partly the problem.
It is not the raw materials themselves that are difficult to obtain, but the logistics, due to expensive truck tank filling and staff shortages.
You can see this, for example, in the corona-related lockdown in Shanghai.
Will bread soon cost ten euros?
Körber
: Bread is becoming more expensive because the raw materials and energy for production are becoming more expensive.
The fact that grain is traded on the stock exchange also contributes to this.
The price of flour has increased by 70 percent.
It is sold to the highest bidder, often overseas to be fed to pigs.
However, ten euros for a loaf is exaggerated.
How expensive will it be for us end consumers? Also with a view to the increased energy prices?
Körber
: The term expensive is not correct.
With price increases, there will be more appreciation for good bread.
Less is thrown away and you also eat the bread from the day before.
Ostallgäu bakers calculate fairly and a fair price has to be paid for fair work.
For example, what impact would a reduction in gas consumption have in your industry?
Körber
: Our bakery trade is energy-intensive.
Gas is the most common type of oven in bakeries.
It's not a good idea if there are bottlenecks.
That would be an immense loss.
We have a supply order!
If there is a delivery stop, the bakery trade must be prioritised.
History has shown that the bakery trade has always come through crises well because it is a fair provider.
We'll get that baked this time too!
Promised!
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