Energy crisis: Bakers’ demonstration in Paris

To denounce skyrocketing prices, a parade of angry bakers is taking place in Paris this Monday at the call of the Collective for the Survival of Bakers and Artisans. The procession started at 14:00 from the Place de la Nation.

“What we’re asking for is a tariff shield for everyone,” Frederic Roy, co-founder of the collective at Sud Radio, said on Monday. “Since September there has been a significant increase in the cost of raw materials, electricity bills have already forced the craftsmen to close, in the short to medium term this will lead to the closure of the most vulnerable. It has already begun,” he recalled.

His team is calling for a price shield for all craftsmen to limit price increases to 15% for individuals.

This mobilization is not unanimous among bakers. Dominique Hanrach, president of the National Confederation of French Bakery and Confectionery (CNBPF), for example, is not calling for a demonstration on Monday. “My position is that we are negotiating. (…) These collectives are asking for a tariff shield. It’s impossible, as Olivia Gregoire and Bruno Le Maire explained to me. However, we demonstrate when we are not being listened to. And today everyone is mobilized,” he said in an interview with Ouest-France.