Königstein im Taunus (dpa/lhe) - The number of bakeries in Hesse has been falling for years. Because of persistently high inflation rates and the energy crisis, the Bakers' Guild Association fears that the process will accelerate. "We have raw material costs, we have energy costs in some of the companies that are almost no longer tradable and cannot be passed on to the consumer," said the managing director of the Hesse Bakers' Guild Association, Stefan Körber.
He fears that the already ongoing structural change could accelerate. When he started with the guild in 2000, there were 1,600 bakeries in Hesse. Today there are maybe 500 companies. Körber's concern: companies that might want to close in two or three years could now decide to do so earlier.
