Like everywhere in France, the 364 artisan bakers of Charente-Maritime roll up their sleeves when it comes time to get out of “whatever it takes”. 1er February, electricity bills will increase by 9.8% on peak and off-peak rates and by 8.6% on basic rates, in…
Like everywhere in France, the 364 artisan bakers of Charente-Maritime roll up their sleeves when it comes time to get out of “whatever it takes”. 1er February, electricity bills will increase by 9.8% on peak and off-peak rates and by 8.6% on basic rates, as part of the gradual disappearance of the “price shield” introduced at the end of 2021.
“A hard blow” to use the words of Olivier Neveu, departmental boss of a profession with a particularly energy-intensive activity, but not really a surprise: “We are going to have to swallow it, whether we like it or not. And we know that it will be the same in 2025. Let’s hope that it will be over in 2026.”
“The bakery adapts, fights, defends itself. It has always questioned itself and remains the last local business in the villages”
In bakeries, hot (from the ovens) and cold (from the windows) are blown in sufficient quantities for this new increase to question practices. “We have to stop eating hot bread all day,” summarizes Olivier Neveu.
Streamline cooking, invest in less energy-intensive equipment, favor slow proofing over blocked proofing, a technique which makes it possible to offer hot bread very quickly but which requires 35% additional energy… It is up to professionals to evolve and customers to listen: is it an absolute necessity to have a baguette straight out of the oven at any time of the day?
Sobriety
This reflection does not date from Bruno Le Maire’s announcement. In the fall of 2022, at the start of the energy crisis, the confederation published a sobriety guide. Around the same period, the departmental federation signed a partnership with Alliance Énergies in order to have a dedicated person to visit businesses and review processes.
The profession no longer really has a choice, even though it has not yet digested inflation and the rise in the price of raw materials with double-digit increases on certain products, such as butter and sugar.
“The bakery adapts, fights, defends itself. It has always questioned itself and remains the last local business in the villages – this is the strength of our profession”, philosopher Olivier Neveu. “But after the rise in the price of electricity, we will not have to give ourselves a coat. »