The price of king cakes is expected to increase this year due to the sharp rise in the price of butter.
The cost of a ton of butter has increased from 5,500 to more than 8,000 euros in 2024, but this ingredient represents half the weight of a pancake.
However, professionals often have to cut back on their margins rather than fully pass on the increase in sales prices.
How much will you have to pay this year for a galette des rois with frangipane? More than last year. The fault is the price of butter which has increased very sharply this year. “Butter, which represents half the weight of a frangipane pancake, increased this year from 5,500 to more than 8,000 euros per ton. Added to this are increases in wages and energy. The cost of manufacturing will therefore increase”told AFP Paul Boivin, general director of the FEB (Federation of bakery and pastry companies).
According to the public establishment FranceAgriMer, the price of pasteurized butter sold in Rungis has increased by around 40% over one year.
Furthermore, in addition to butter, other key ingredients in pancakes have seen their prices rise, adds Dominique Anract, president of the National Confederation of French Bakery and Bakery-Pâtisserie, such as eggs, affected by avian flu. Their price rose to 14 euros per 100 eggs in December compared to 10 euros this summer, according to FranceAgriMer. “Butter represents a quarter of almond cream and almost half in the puff pastry. In two years, the share of raw materials has increased from 23% of bakers' turnover to 26-28%”he notes.
A shortfall for bakers
So the bakers “could slightly increase their prices, of the order of 10 to 20 cents, or even 50 cents per share, or will not increase. But it will be wise”assures the head of the Confederation. An observation shared by Paul Boivin who predicts above all that “bakers will often cut back on their margins.”
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Or “the pancakes, sold over seven to eight weeks, represent around 15% of the annual turnover of bakeries and the bakery sections of supermarkets: it is therefore a real shortfall”continues the general director of the Federation, which brings together large manufacturers and bakery chains. Galettes remain a flagship product for the 35,000 bakeries in France: “each sells on average 500 to 2,000 cakes during this period, 4000 to 5000 for the best placed and up to 10,000 for the winner of the Prize for the best cake”believes Dominique Anract. Sixty million galettes des rois are sold at the start of each year in France.
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