The German food industry sees itself "in the greatest crisis for 70 years". That said Christoph Minhoff, general manager of the German Food Association and the Federal Association of the German Food Industry, the "Heilbronner Voice" (Tuesday).
Minhoff cited crop failures, corona-related delivery bottlenecks, the war in Ukraine and possible gas shortages as the causes. "And everyone is affected, the entire food value chain, logistics and transport, supplier industries, packaging industry."
Minhoff: The state should not patronize citizens
Minhoff called on the federal government to "urgently come up with a working plan for a stable energy supply". He lodged a pre-emptive protest against considerations of preferentially supplying producers of staple foods and farmers in the event of a gas shortage, but turning off the gas taps of the confectionery industry or breweries.
"The debate about systemic relevance in the food sector is unspeakable," said Minhoff. "I would urgently advise politicians not to intervene so massively in the market and to patronize consumers in such a way that the state decides what we can still eat and what not, and that the state decides who can continue to work and who can keep their job loses."
The whole sector is systemically important. "So instead of considering who deserves an energy supply and can survive with it and who doesn't, those at the top should finally make sure that this question doesn't even arise because we will have enough gas available."
Over five million people work in the food industry. "I don't want any of them to have to fear for their job because of a political strategy that doesn't work," Minhoff said.
