Status: 04/17/2023 10:13 a.m
The increased energy and raw material prices are a burden for many bakeries. A total of 780 bakeries disappeared across Germany last year. The total number of companies is declining.
In the past year, more bakeries have disappeared than new ones have been added. At the end of 2022, a little more than 9,600 bakeries were entered in the so-called craft register, the Central Association of the German Bakery Trade announced today. That was around 3.6 percent less than the year before. For comparison: In 2014 there were still around 12,600 companies in Germany – almost 3,000 more than today.
Accordingly, 780 bakery companies disappeared from the market last year. There were only 422 start-ups in the same period. That was at least a little more than in the Corona year 2021 – at that time only 380 new companies were added.
Association calls for bureaucracy reduction
Young entrepreneurs in particular are taking the future into their own hands and are confident about the future despite the difficult conditions of the past year, said association president Michael Wippler. Nevertheless, the ongoing energy crisis and the increased cost of raw materials continued to weigh on the companies. “Above all, the political framework must be improved, and the urgently needed reduction in bureaucracy is high on the agenda.”
This month, the Central Association of the German Bakery Trade again called for a reduction in bureaucracy. “In discussions with companies, we increasingly hear that the bureaucratic burden that has arisen in recent years is overwhelming and no longer felt to be acceptable. At our base, there are now calls for the current laws to be reduced by 30 percent in order to be able to work economically “, so Wippler.
According to the association, the industry generated sales of around 16.27 billion euros last year. That was 9.4 percent more than in the previous year. However, the growth is mainly due to the general price increases.