Covid, energy crisis, inflation: Bassin bakers and pastry chefs get out of trouble

Les artisans témoignent principalement du coût de l’électricité et de celui des matières premières. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

Dans un contexte agité, après le Covid, la crise énergétique de 2023, les boulangers et les pâtissiers alésiens continuent de travailler.

Five years have passed since the Covid crisis, and two years since the great energy crisis that put many bread artisans to bed. While the signs are tending to return to normal in 2025, particularly with the reduction in the cost of electricity on February 1, bakers are still reporting sometimes disrupted working conditions.

1. Energy costs

Without a doubt, the energy crisis of 2023 is the first of the problems encountered by most bakers. Chloé Lafont, a saleswoman at the Veyret pastry shop, testifies to a price that has “doubled, even tripled“, since 2022. “It had to work, because turning on an oven for ten minutes is huge.” Even if, “it has calmed down a bit, it has not returned to the price we were paying before.“

Energy affects bakeries and pastry shops on a case-by-case basis. Laure Perrot, from the Au Fournil Alésien bakery, says that the city centre shop benefits from contracts that limit these additional energy costs. “Unlike those for raw materials…“

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2. Raw materials

Another problem is the cost of raw materials, as explained by Laure Perrot, from the Au Fournil Alésien bakery. “These are the raw materials that we lack the most today.” She cites the example of butter, which has “doubled in price“. Same thing for eggs, sugar, or even cocoa. “Problems, almost more important than the cost of energy“, according to her. “It's day by day“, she says again.

The Veyret pastry shop also bears witness to this increase in prices. And this mainly affects butter, which has become a precious and expensive commodity. Suffice to say that in a pastry shop, butter is the basic ingredient. On the rue Albert 1er side, Bruno Victoria, from the eponymous bakery and pastry shop, agrees. He mentions the various market speculations, but also the higher cost of wheat, and therefore of dough.

3. The impact on prices

These problems, linked to a booming inflation, force artisans to adapt their prices: “We can't add a euro to our products, but we have to compensate. We add five cents here, ten there“, says the employee of the Veyret pastry shop. Regarding customer feedback, several of the bakers interviewed testify to a contact that is not necessarily very friendly. “We do our best so that it is not too expensive for them“, but more broadly “everything is expensive today“, explains one of them. “It's complicated.“

4. Increased competition from supermarkets and manufacturers

“Today, many people prefer to buy in supermarkets. It's faster, simpler, cheaper…” mentions one of the professionals interviewed. Faced with cut-price baguettes and industrial pastries, it is sometimes difficult for artisans to compete.

“The problem is, we can't match their prices.” Because the big brands benefit from more advantageous prices on flours, which they buy for “less”, which allows them to make more than profitable profits. “Not to mention the price of the baguette, it is much lower“, and therefore more profitable, “as much for the store as for the consumer“, explains one of the masters artisans who do not wish to make themselves known.

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