“I like pancakes, do you know how? When it’s done well, with butter in it! » The famous nursery rhyme will get the better of our wallets: it’s because we like the butter in the galette des rois that it will be sold more expensively in 2025.
And for good reason: the price of butter is rising. “Butter, which represents half the weight of a frangipane pancake, increased this year from €5,500 to more than €8,000 per tonne. Added to this are wage and energy increases. The manufacturing cost will therefore increase,” explains Paul Boivin, general director of the FEB (Federation of bakery and pastry companies).
Increase in the price of eggs also
In fact, “the butter represents a quarter of the 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%.informs Dominique Anract, president of the National Confederation of French Bakery and Bakery-Pâtisserie.
According to the public establishment FranceAgriMer, the price of pasteurized butter sold in Rungis has increased by around 40% over one year.
In addition to butter, other key ingredients in pancakes have also seen their prices rise. This is the case for eggs, affected by avian flu. Their price rose to €14 per hundred eggs in December, compared to €10 this summer, according to FranceAgriMer.
From 10 to 50 cents more per share
Between that and the butter, “bakers need to watch their accounts, otherwise it’s a time bomb. They could increase their prices slightly, in the order of 10 to 20 cents, or even 50 cents per share, or they will not increase. But it will be wise,” assures the head of the Confederation.
To cushion this price increase, bakers “will often cut back on their margin”, believes Paul Boivin, which should therefore minimize the impact for consumers.
As much as a pancake “sold on average for €4 to €12 in supermarkets and €17 to €30 at an artisan baker”remains a purchase “punctual, the consumer does not necessarily realize the increases, if they take place”according to the general director of the Federation.
A “shortfall” for bakers
But the financial consequences for professionals in the sector are very real. “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”indicates Paul Boivin.
Galettes remain a flagship product for the 35,000 bakeries in France: “Each sells on average 500 to 2,000 cakes during this period, 4,000 to 5,000 for the best placed and up to 10,000 for the winner of the Best Cake Prize”for his part supports Dominique Anract.
Around 60 million galettes des rois are sold at the start of each year in France, on the occasion of Epiphany.
