the SOS of rural bakers

It frees speech, it’s important becausethere is psychological distress: no one is going to say that things are badconsiders David Fèvre. The baker from Tallud, never short of initiatives, put online a survey which was originally intended to remain accessible for only one day, and which in 24 hours collected 3,200 votes across France. The subject: the malaise of rural bakers. The objective being to pass on the answers to the deputies and senators. The deputy for Deux-Sèvres Jean-Marie Fiévet relayed the initiative on his Linkedin account, calling on artisan bakers to participate.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7285723649267949568/

What do professionals suffer from most? At the top of the responses, profitability difficulties followed by recruitment difficulties and the high cost of raw materials and energy. The impossibility of selling your business is also often mentioned. “The goal is to alert public opinion that the profession is in danger”estimates David Fèvre. There are bakeries that are doing well and know how to innovate to meet customer expectations. When this is pointed out to him, David Fèvre does not deny it. “But there is a real vulnerability of artisanal baking in rural areas. »

A petition and a poster

It is true that in recent times, there has been no shortage of examples of businesses that have not found a buyer when existing craftsmen leave. At the start of the year in Coulonges-sur-l'Autize, a bakery-pastry shop closed its doors after retirement. In Parthenay, the town's oldest bakers closed the doors on December 21, 2024 due to a lack of successors: the business had been on sale for three years. At the end of 2024, it was in Thouars that a bakery was put into liquidation after 53 years of existence.

A petition will be launched. And a poster will come out. On the theme of the Titanic. “It is becoming urgent to provide structuring collective responses to artisanal bakery companies, ensuring their continued economic performance”declare the professionals concerned.