Large bakery failed due to high energy prices, 48 ​​employees on the street

Bakkerij d’n Bekker has six stores in Haps, Grave, Cuijk, Boxmeer, Mill and Gennep in Limburg. The shops are closed since Tuesday. There is a note on the door. “It was with a heavy heart that we had to decide to close our doors. Due to the extreme increases in the prices of our raw materials and electricity, it is no longer possible to continue our beautiful work “, reads the note.

“We tried to continue until the end,” says baker Hans van Duijvenvoorde in response. “At some point you are waiting to see who will last longer. You or your colleagues. If your colleague falls, you may be able to detect some of his sales. But now I was the first to go there ”.

48 people on the street
The main culprit is the huge increase in the price of energy. “For the Haps shop alone, it went from € 2,000 per month to € 12,000,” says van Duijvenvoorde. “And you can’t transfer all those prices into bread. You are already at the maximum you can ask for a loaf “.

And so the bakery chain was declared bankrupt. “We spoke to the staff on Monday evening. 48 people are now on the street, “says the baker. All the shops are closed since Tuesday.

10 percent will fall
The national government is working on a support package to partially compensate companies such as bakers for high energy prices. It would be introduced in the spring. “It comes too late for us,” says van Duijvenvoorde. “Your energy costs should be 12.5 percent of your turnover. Normally this is 4 percent for us. Now with these energy prices no more than 10 percent. So we wouldn’t be eligible for that support. “

Bakker Hans van Duijvenvoorde thinks he will not be the last to fail. “I expect 10 percent of bakers will have collapsed by the end of the year.”