bakers demand the “tariff shield for all”

Traders and craftsmen mobilized this Monday, January 23, at the call of a collective of bakers. They say they are suffocated by the rise in the prices of raw materials and energy. Portraits of Norman bakers in turmoil.

“ Angry baker, energy is a hassle” or : ” After the flour, the current ruins us“

Messages are plastered between croissants and baguettes in this bakery in Alençon. SOS of artisans in distress. As in hundreds of bakeries in France, these traders are showing their dismay and their anger at the soaring prices of energy and raw materials. Because state aid is no longer enough for them.

Their bills have literally exploded in recent months.

At the “Wheat Hall”, they have tripled in the space of six months. Christelle Guillois, the manager, nevertheless tries to find solutions, even if it means sacrificing her comfort and that of her employees:

” In August, I was at 1335 euros per month, I went to 4256 euros! We made radical decisions, we have no more heating upstairs, no more heating in the office, the store is not heated, it is 14 degrees in the store, the boys are very careful and turn off half ovens…We try to find solutions to earn the little we can…”

On a daily basis, this trader needs an electricity meter that exceeds 36 kilowatt-hours to operate her ovens. But with this consumption, the device is not eligible for the 15% tariff shield set up by the State. Because this tariff shield only applies to blue meters, whose electricity consumption does not exceed 36 kilowatt-hours.

Christelle Guillois, with her yellow meter, not eligible for aid, will therefore have to pay 60,000 euros for electricity this year instead of 20,000 euros. A price increase that could quickly impact the very structure of the company, she explains: ” Our treasuries are melting, we will never be able to cope with such an increase, it is impossible. My staff is mobilized. We already talked about dismissal..”

“The galley despite the tariff shield”

Not far from there, Coralie Leconte, manager of the “Authentique” bakery, benefits from the famous tariff shield. But this shield does not allow him to keep his head above water.

Hardly impacted by the rise in energy and raw material prices, she says she does not want state or regional aid, which has been in place since January 1, 2023.

The Normandy region via theDevelopment Agency in Normandy (DNA) indeed offers zero interest loan to help its bakers, as during the Covid 19 health crisis. Che device allows artisan bakers to benefit from a zero-interest loan for an amount depending on their needs, repayable over four years, with a lag in the start of amortization of 18 months.

For Coralie Leconte, this is not a solution, she simply wants to pay “ the right price”.

” Since when, she asks, are we going to have to take out a loan to pay our bills? It’s like the story of the deferral of charges and taxes… It’s going back to better jump! Rather than making us suffer once and for all, we are going to spread our suffering over several months! It’s of no interest.”

Another situation of an angry baker, or rather a resigned and constrained pastry chef. That of Marie Gillot. The young woman created her tea room in Bolbec in 2020. The investment cost her 80,000 euros. But, with the electricity bills having become too substantial, she has not been able to pay herself a salary for two months and is now forced to return, one day a week, to her former activity as a pharmacy assistant.

A job that she still enjoys, but that she never thought she would find again. She had no choice, it was a matter of survival for her business:

“My electricity bill has gone from 2,500 euros to 3,500 a year. In addition to energy costs, there is also the cost of milk, cream and butter which have increased… I am ask lots of questions about the future. “

To pay these bills, thanks to a minimum income, the young woman is therefore forced to close her tea room one day a week and to juggle between the two activities.
She hopes for a quick return to normal, to save her small business and return to work there full time.