Dear raw materials, the alarm of bakers: "Higher costs but reduced revenues"
The price of milk, butter, sugar and flour increases: the alert of 3,500 Sardinian companies
The 3,500 Sardinian food companies risk a slowdown due to the continuous increases in the prices of raw materials, bills and fuel for road transport.
The alarm is raised by the bakers, confectioners and ice cream makers of Confartigianato Sardegna in light of the increase in the prices of flour, sugar and eggs, electricity and gas bills, petrol and diesel.
The sector employs 10,000 people, with an important food and wine offer of 8 PDO, PGI and TSG products, as many as 214 “traditional” products, and an export capacity of nearly 100 million euros per year. And the alert is even higher considering that we are heading towards a period of Christmas sales never so anticipated by especially small producers. The Christmas holidays on the island move around 378 million euros in consumption, according to the latest data from the Research Department of Confartigianato Sardegna in the dossier "Food economy of MPI and food crafts of 2020".
"If the Government does not intervene to at least reduce the costs of energy and fuel, the sector risks a considerable bastosta - comments Daniele Serra, Regional Secretary of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna - because on the one hand there is the risk of a slowdown in the recovery after Covid, and on the other because it forces retailers to adjust prices upwards, with the consequent discontent of customers ”.
"On milk, butter, sugar, flour, eggs, hazelnuts, almonds and all that is needed to make bread, sweets and ice cream, we are registering increases ranging between 5 and 20% that have not been recorded since 2011 - says Marco Rau , regional delegate for food of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna - all this is triggering a dangerous chain reaction, because the supply difficulties and the higher costs faced by producers, then also fall on those who have to sell certain foodstuffs to the public and, consequently , on the finished product and on consumers. Unfortunately, a “dear panettone” is looming on the horizon ”.
“Throughout the period of the various closures, as far as possible, we tried to work practically making up for it - explains Rau - now that we finally saw the light, restarting at full capacity, we find ourselves having to face this very hard situation. Customers are well aware that for at least 5-6 years our prices have remained unchanged and that we have self-taxed and made sacrifices in this pandemic period to offer our products with very low profit margins. We cannot go on with this situation of continuous penalisation of the sector ”.
"The problem is that while the increases imposed by our suppliers we have to suffer in silence - remarks the regional delegate for food - it is much more difficult for us to make consumers digest them, having direct contact with the public".
“This situation is determined by the fact that Italy is particularly exposed to the increase in the prices of raw materials, being the second largest economy in the EU for manufacturing production - continues Serra - with a high dependence on foreign commodities. Furthermore, price signals are associated with those of a scarcity of raw materials ”. "Such a high pressure on costs, which is only partially transferred to sales prices - continues the Secretary - determines a reduction in added value, compresses economic growth, reduces the propensity to invest of companies, compromising both innovation processes and the job application ".
Furthermore, for companies that have invested in technological innovation thanks to the 4.0 law, and therefore ordered new more efficient and productive machinery, there is a further joke: for lack of raw materials, such as steel, and of microchips, equipment cannot be produced and therefore cannot be delivered to pastry chefs, bakers and ice cream makers who had requested them: "This entails further damage - concludes Rau - because companies had already planned to increase their production thanks to that 'innovation and now, on the other hand, they are forced to fulfill orders with machinery that is unsuitable for major productions ”.
(Unioneonline / D)
