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Call for help to politicians: crafts in the energy crisis

2022-12-22T16:59:54.889Z


Call for help to politicians: crafts in the energy crisis Created: 2022-12-22Updated: 2022-12-22, 5:54 p.m Difficult times: Ursula Sedlmayr in her butcher shop - here with the customer Dieter Mayr. © Kornatz Crafts in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen are in crisis. Butchers and bakers in particular are struggling with rising costs. Call for help to politicians. County – Christmas is just


Call for help to politicians: crafts in the energy crisis

Created: 2022-12-22Updated: 2022-12-22, 5:54 p.m

Difficult times: Ursula Sedlmayr in her butcher shop - here with the customer Dieter Mayr.

© Kornatz

Crafts in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen are in crisis.

Butchers and bakers in particular are struggling with rising costs.

Call for help to politicians.

County – Christmas is just around the corner.

And with that, in many households, the question of how to go about it in culinary terms.

Some of them are therefore going to the local bakeries and butchers these days.

Good Christmas business is even more important this year than in previous years.

Because the energy crisis, high raw material prices and delivery bottlenecks have long been a problem for these professional groups as well as for the entire trade.

Many companies are "up to their necks in water," says Roland Streim with concern.

The managing director of the district handicraft association Oberland emphasizes that the whole trade is currently in a very difficult position.

Some companies in the region would have had to pull the rip cord and give up their own business.

But just looking for the reason for this in the energy crisis would not go far enough.

Of course, this is a huge burden, but disrupted supply chains or exceptionally high raw material prices are also a real problem.

Some prices are "simply apocalyptic," emphasizes Streim, referring to sugar, for example.

Bakers are already happy if the price doesn't go up even more

In Benjamin Aurhammer's bakery, almost nothing works without sugar.

The master baker from Oberammergau has been confronted with exorbitantly high prices for some time now.

In the end, these have remained more or less the same, but one cannot speak of normality for a long time, emphasizes the owner.

At the moment he's happy if he doesn't go even further up.

Somehow you have to get a grip on it, says Aurhammer, who is also head of the Oberland bakers' guild.

The question is how?

At the moment it's all about creativity, stresses Streim.

"It won't work without the help of politicians." The planned electricity and gas price brakes are a good start.

Aurhammer is breaking new ground in production.

Or he adapted them to the extraordinary situation.

Production is currently only in the bakery, the ovens in the branches have been shut down for the time being.

He reports that he can run the ovens in the bakery with solar power and thus make himself less dependent on the high electricity prices.

In the past, he was able to bake rolls directly in the branches if necessary.

That is currently gone.

He also reduced his assortment.

Despite all the creativity, there are also many additional costs for him.

However, he does not want to pass this on to customers in full.

However, this is not entirely possible without price increases.

The reactions are mixed: "Some understand, some scold," he reports.

Bakery Sand is by no means thinking about quitting

Your location in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

has had the Sand bakery for a small eternity.

These are also difficult times for the traditional bakery.

However, owner Anton Sand does not want to think about retiring: The business has been around since 1816. Since then, his ancestors have also survived many crises, as the master baker emphasizes.

"Then we can do it too." Similar to Aurhammer, he has taken certain austerity measures.

The ovens run less overall - and the range has been adjusted.

The purchasing behavior of his customers has also changed somewhat in recent months.

It is his customers who keep Sand optimistic despite all the difficulties.

"They keep coming."

In addition to bakeries, butchers are also among the most energy-intensive businesses.

Ursula Sedlmayr, who has been running her family business in the district town for three generations, sees her trade in a critical phase: "We have our backs to the wall." She worries about nothing less than the future of a trade.

According to her, there have been problems with young talent for years – and now the energy crisis is another immense burden.

She also knows some colleagues in the region who retired earlier than they would have liked.

Butchers in particular find it difficult to save energy.

"My cold chains have to remain in place," she emphasizes.

You can't simply "let the units run less".

As far as possible, they absorb the costs internally.

Bakers and butchers are not running out of challenges: from January 2023, businesses will be required by law to offer reusable packaging for takeaway food.

Basically, that's a good idea," says Sedlmayr.

However, she has the impression that "the small" craft businesses are hit first.

And they already have more than enough to worry about at the moment.

Nevertheless: The business woman also wants to remain positive.

The Christmas business has been going well so far.

BY TOBIAS SCHWANINGER

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-12-22

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