Ibrahim Aydil has been a baker since childhood but doesn’t recall such gloom in a sector that has been the soul of Germany’s socio-cultural landscape.TRT World
Rising wheat and energy prices – triggered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict – have pushed the bakery industry to the brink.Russian energy more than any other European country, but as Moscow reduced gas supplies to Europe as a countermeasure against US-led sanctions, the continent has scrambled to find alternative energy sources to mitigate the unfolding crisis. Aydil says mathematics doesn’t work anymore.
Rising energy prices are taking a toll on German bakeries that are heavily dependent on gas and electricity. While bread happens to be a staple in many countries, it has a special place in Germany which has 600-odd different types of the wheat-based food. The basic fare is so integrated into their daily life that Germans call their supper “abendbrot”, meaning the evening bread custom.
that local bakeries are struggling to stay afloat as most use gas-fired ovens and electricity-operated cooling rooms for their products.