The sharp rise in the price of butter, which has crossed the 8,000 euros per tonne mark, will increase the cost of production of the approximately 60 million king cakes sold at the start of the year.
However, this impact should not seriously penalize consumers, assure professionals in the sector.
“Butter represents half the weight of a frangipane pancake. Its price has risen from 5,500 to more than 8,000 euros per tonne this year. Added to this are increases in wages and energy. The cost of manufacturing is increasing, but bakers will often cut their margins“, explains Paul Boivin, general director of the Federation of Bakery and Pastry Companies (FEB).
Bakers “could increase their prices slightly”
According to FranceAgriMer, the price of pasteurized butter in Rungis has increased by around 40% in one year.
The pancakes, sold mainly for seven to eight weeks, represent around 15% of the annual turnover of bakeries and supermarket shelves. “It's a real loss of income“, underlines Boivin. The prices of the pancakes vary between 4 and 12 euros in supermarkets, and from 17 to 30 euros at artisan bakers.
But as the purchase remains one-off, consumers do not always perceive the price increase, he notes.
Besides butter, other key ingredients, such as eggs, have also seen their prices rise, particularly due to bird flu. The price of eggs thus jumped to 14 euros per 100 units in December, compared to 10 euros this summer, according to FranceAgriMer.
“The butter represents a quarter of the almond cream and almost half of the puff pastry. In two years, the share of raw materials in bakers' turnover has increased from 23% to 26-28%.“, specifies Dominique Anract, president of the National Confederation of French Bakery and Pastry.
Bakers, faced with rising production costs, will have to monitor their profitability. “They could increase their prices slightly by 10 to 20 cents, or even 50 cents per share, but that would still be reasonable.“, adds Anract.
The pancakes remain a flagship product for the 35,000 bakeries in France, which each sell an average of 500 to 2,000 units during the holiday period, with up to 10,000 pancakes for the best artisans.
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