Food - Trade unionists: bakery sector must realign itself
Following the insolvency of the Lila Bäcker bakery chain, trade unionist Jörg Dahms has called for a rethink in the industry. "The industry needs to realign itself, because otherwise it has no chance against the supermarkets," said the managing director of the Food, Beverages and Catering Union (NGG) in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on Wednesday. "Because people simply have less money in their pockets." The reason is inflation.
Customers are asking themselves what they are spending their money on when, for example, six Berliners cost 1.90 euros in the supermarket and a single one sometimes costs 2.50 euros in the Lila Bäcker. "If you offer the same thing as in the supermarket for a different price, then you shouldn't be surprised that it doesn't go any further."
How bakers can position themselves in the future is "damn hard to answer", said Dahms. In future, they may have to focus less on mass production and more on locally available specialties and natural products without additives, so that customers actually feel rewarded when they go into a bakery. "It could be that the large-scale nature of the bakery trade has come to an end."
On Tuesday, the insolvent bakery chain Lila Bäcker announced the closure of around a third of its 230 branches and the dismissal of around 500 of its 1,600 employees. Insolvency proceedings were opened on January 1. Previously, efforts to restructure the company under self-administration had failed.
The company, which has branches in Brandenburg, Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, cited crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine, increased raw material, energy and wage costs, and customer reluctance due to inflation. Lila Bäcker had already been relaunched in 2019 following insolvency.
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- The insolvency of Lila Bäcker, a baking chain with branches in Brandenburg, Berlin, Schleswig-Holstein, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has led to the closure of around a third of its 230 outlets and the dismissal of over 500 employees.
- Jörg Dahms, the managing director of the Food, Beverages and Catering Union (NGG) in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has urged the bakery sector to realign itself in response to the insolvency, citing inflation as a major factor.
- Dahms suggested that bakers might need to shift focus from mass production to locally sourced specialties and natural products without additives to compete with supermarkets.
- Lila Bäcker, which previously underwent insolvency in 2019, has cited COVID-19 pandemic crises, the war in Ukraine, increased costs of raw materials, energy, and wages, as well as customer hesitancy due to inflation as reasons for its current struggles.
- In Neubrandenburg, trade unionists are concerned about the impact of the bakery sector's challenges on jobs and therefore urge a rethink to ensure the industry's survival.
- The German economy as a whole, including sectors like food and trade, is faced with challenges such as inflation, and companies must find ways to adapt and thrive in the changing market conditions.
Source: www.stern.de
