the back of the cake

What to remember:

• This year, the galette des rois should weigh a little heavier on the wallets of the French. The cause is a surge in the prices of butter and eggs. “Butter, which represents half the weight of a frangipane pancake, has increased this year (…) to more than 8,000 euros per tonne,” Paul Boivin, general director of the Federation of Companies, told AFP. bakery and pastry shop. For comparison, in 2020 the tonne stood at 3,200 euros.
• According to data from France AgriMer, the price of eggs has also seen a sharp increase. The cost for 100 eggs reached 14 euros in December, compared to 10 euros last summer. In the case of both butter and eggs, the cause is animal diseases which have hit farms hard in 2024, leading to a drop in production. Avian flu and bluetongue, the development of which is favored by increasing temperatures, have thus created significant supply tensions.
• The other key ingredient of the traditional pancake is obviously the almond. Today, 97% of it is imported into France, mainly from California. Once considered a gold mine, dried fruit has become the flagship product: 80% of almonds today come from the Golden State.
• But greedy for water and prone to diseases, Californian orchards have been facing difficulties in recent years. The massive use of pesticides has led to a decline in pollinators, endangering the future of crops, while the drought that is raging in this state on the front line of climate change is leading some farmers to uproot their trees.