Dutch bakeries face threat of closure as energy costs surge, industry body says
06/09/2022 16:09
By Charlotte Van Campenhout
AMSTERDAM, Sept 6 (Reuters) - A surge in energy prices is
threatening a wave of closures across the Dutch bakery sector,
its industry lobby warned on Tuesday, with some businesses
saying costs have risen as much as tenfold.
Dutch inflation hit 12% in August, Statistics Netherlands
said on Tuesday, driven largely by a 151% year-on-year leap in
gas and electricity prices.
"I am hearing from a lot of entrepreneurs that if this holds
up for much longer, they'll have to close up shop," said
Marie-Helene Zengerink, general manager of the Dutch Association
for Bread and Pastry Bakers, which has 1,600 affiliated bakers.
"We are talking about a lot of family businesses. It's a
real emergency."
The association took out a full-page ad in the Dutch daily
Algemeen Dagblad newspaper on Tuesday, appealing to the
government to do something about runaway energy costs.
Governments across Europe have pushed through
multibillion-euro packages to protect companies and households
following a jump in power prices, after Russia's invasion of
Ukraine helped drive the cost of gas sharply higher.
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Energy contracts for many bakers have expired or are set to
expire this year, with power bills sometimes jumping from 3,000
euros ($2,968) a month to 30,000 euros a month, Zengerink said.
"That's not a cost you can pass on to customers for a loaf
of bread."
The association is lobbying the Dutch government to
temporarily scrap tax on energy and to drop its opposition to a
an energy price cap imposed in some European countries.
Others in the food sector were also suffering from rising
costs. Dutch online grocery delivery company Picnic, with annual
sales of roughly 450 million euros, said it was halting
deliveries of frozen goods.
"The energy crisis has hit our ice supplier so much that it
can no longer make sustainable dry ice," Picnic said.
Customers will not be able to order frozen pizzas, meals or
ice cream until it has found an alternative supplier, it said.
($1 = 1.0120 euros)
(Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Charlotte Van Campenhout;
Editing by Jan Harvey)
((Charlotte.VanCampenhout@thomsonreuters.com;))