The price of butter, the main raw material for pancakes, has notably increased significantly in recent months.
Every year it’s a tradition. But finding the bean in a flaky, almond-flavored pancake may be more expensive for consumers this year. In particular, an increase in the price of butter, which stood at 8,200 euros per tonne at the start of the school year, up 92% over one year. Since September, the price of this fat has fallen by 8.5%, to stand at 7,500 euros per tonne, still well beyond 3,200 euros in 2020. The fault is bluetongue, which affected ruminants, including cows, and caused a drop in milk production.
If butter is the main ingredient of golden pancakes, eggs also add to the bill. Since the war in Ukraine, their prices have skyrocketed by more than 20%, adding to successive increases in the minimum wage. “Labor is what costs the most” to professionals, underlines Dominique Anract, president of the National Confederation of Bakery and French Bakery-Pâtisserie. To this are always added the prices of energy, with electricity which “took 300%” since the war in Ukraine, deplores Lionel Bonnamy, winner of the best galette des rois du Grand Paris, who made “energy its battle horse”.
“Playing on volumes”
Dominique Anract recalls that “each baker is responsible for the prices he charges and they each have different cost prices”. It does not exclude “certain increases, in centimes, on the slices of cake” or the “margin trimming” for some bakers. For Lionel Bonnamy, who owns a bakery in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, there is no question of passing on all price increases to his products: “Last year, I already increased the prices a little and this year I am applying an additional 50 cents per pancake.” To cover his costs, he “plays on the volumes”which allows him “to be profitable”. Thanks to his distinction, the professional saw his sales explode, with 3,000 products sold in four days, i.e. “three times more than last year”at the same period.
Until the end of the month, the period promises to be intense with 18 to 20 million artisanal pancakes which will be manufactured this year. In mass distribution, nearly 40 million king cakes will be produced. If they are less expensive than professionals, they too could experience an increase in prices on the shelves.
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