It was initially just a joke. Invented by the magazine The Economist in 1986, the Big Mac index has since become a real subject of study making it possible to evaluate the purchasing power of a population based on the price of the famous McDonald’s sandwich. HAS 20 minutes, we decided to rely on a more dietary product to create our own index. Our cost of living scale will therefore be based on the sugar pancake. A snack essential attributed to Brittany but found in almost all cabins on wheels, from the port of Crouesty to the surroundings of the Eiffel Tower.
The idea came to us on a rainy Sunday in December when we saw a photo denouncing the price of pancakes near the Saint-Malo Christmas ice rink. On the sign, we see that this classic is offered at 4 euros with Bordier butter, a real local churn treasure. In the comments, many are outraged at the price considered exaggerated. And then there is Frédéric, a lawyer based in Bouches-du-Rhône, who asks. “Sorry, I don’t mean to troll. But what’s the problem, the prices? “. Good question my Fredo. Because what exactly is the real price of a butter-sugar? After a quick search, we were able to find a model for 2.50 euros in a food truck in Toulouse and a version for 4.50 euros on the Grand’Place in Lille. “The price of a kebab once upon a time”, as this internet user notes. In good centrist territory, Brittany hits the middle, rather displaying its version around 3 euros. Can we then consider Saint-Malo butter and sugar at 4 euros as too expensive?
We asked Morgan Hector. Patron of the house of the same name, Le Malouin holds several well-known restaurants in the corsair city. For around ten years, his SME has been installing the ice rink at the foot of the ramparts. It is also his company that concocts the famous four-euro pancakes. “For me, there is no subject. Our pancakes are at market price. They are all at this price. He who has the means, he buys them, he who cannot, he does not take any,” replies the restaurateur, no doubt a little annoyed at having to justify himself. A fine connoisseur of the world of catering, he agrees to explain himself. “The problem is not the price of my pancakes, it is that of purchasing power. My price is a fair balance. It is primarily used to reward the human who manufactures the products. It’s like with coffee. It is sometimes found for 1 euro, sometimes for 3 euros. And yet the price of coffee is the same for everyone. At my place, coffee is 3 euros. Because they serve it to you with an Evian, the waiter is tied with a tie, he earns 3,000 bucks a month and he’s happy to be there. »
The cost of the ingredients? 30 cents
The restaurateur is right to mention the cost of work. Because in this sugar crepe affair, that’s where the difference is made and not the cost of the product. In catering, the creperie is known to be the activity where the “material cost” is the lowest and therefore potentially the most “profitable”. For a sugar crepe, a restaurateur making his own dough will pay around 30 cents each. If he sells it for three euros, his gain will therefore be multiplied by 10. If he sells it for 4 euros, it is x13. What if he uses organic eggs, churned butter and Label Rouge flour? Good for the customer. But the cost price per unit will only increase by a few cents. “The problem with crepes is that everyone can make them at home. So people think it’s a cheap dish. But what is expensive is the labor time to make them. And the mother who prepares them for Sunday snacks doesn’t count that. No one complains about paying 12 euros for their pizza. And yet, it costs 1.80 euros to make, the same as a complete cake,” underlines Bertrand, founder of Magic Pancakes.
Based in Paris, this trainer is not at all shocked to see a butter-sugar for 4 euros. “In Paris, it’s the price.” And why ? “The price of a product is defined according to its environment, according to the price that a customer is prepared to pay. It’s supply and demand that regulates everything.” On his YouTube channel, the restaurateur has had fun several times detailing all the costs inherent to his activity. “Those who talk to you about inflation to explain the rise in prices are bullshit (bullshit). Because even if you have a 20% increase in your raw materials, we are still talking about a few cents on each pancake. »
The example of the delicious crepes of the Eiffel Tower
More than the cost of labor, it is above all the location which seems to define the price of our flagship product. If filthy pancakes made from powder and water stored in the sewers are sold for 5 euros around the Eiffel Tower, it is neither thanks to their inimitable taste, nor because of the cost of labor, nor because of the price of eggs. This is good because there is nothing around for anyone who is feeling peckish. Offer the same thing at the Loctudy market and no one will come and buy it from you. You might even risk being dislodged.
“The problem is undoubtedly that Saint-Malo has become gentrified. And I understand the annoyance of the residents. Those who are ready to spend 4.50 euros on a crepe probably don’t live in Saint-Malo all year round. They are the same ones who are driving up real estate prices,” says the boss of Crêpes Magiques. This capitalist vision of the creperie, however, is not to everyone’s taste. In the cradle of buckwheat and wheat, some purists choke when they see the prices charged here and there. “Four euros, I find that expensive! At home, it’s 3 euros for butter and sugar and served at the table. And it’s the same everywhere in the Bigouden country, testifies Gilles Stéphant, president of the creperie federation. If we enter into the game of a market price, we risk doing what we do with second homes. People can no longer find accommodation! Do we want to take the risk that people will no longer be able to feed themselves? “. Purchasing power is clearly not the same at Pointe de la Torche as in the beautiful Parisian neighborhoods.
Based near Saint-Brieuc, Youenn Allano produces nearly 30,000 pancakes and pancakes per week from his workshop. That shows if he knows anything about it. Boss of a successful company, the Breton refuses to give in to the sirens of the market and goes in the same direction as the boss of the federation. “When I do takeaway services, the butter and sugar is 2 euros, 2.50 euros maximum. When I see certain prices, it annoys me because they make us look like thieves. Basically, the galette was a poor man’s meal, just flour and water. For me, it must remain accessible, family-friendly. So that everyone can sit down at the table without breaking the bank.” At four euros each, not everyone will be able to taste it.