There is more than 3,000 kilometers in between. Kyiv And Barcelona did not block effects of the russian invasion heat business texture. This light four times more expensive inflation at record levels, Transport through the clouds and raw materials skyrocketing price famine. for the storm that unleashed covid it just lacked a war in eastern Europe. And a year later, SMEs are still realizing that: some are better, many are worse.
Manel Llaràs, baker: “I’m selling more than ever before, but I can’t make it to the end of the month”
When Manel Llaràs spoke to EL PERIÓDICO of the Prensa Ibérica group a few days later in March 2022 Vladimir Putin decided to invade UkraineHe was faking whether he should lay off one of his employees or not to balance the balance sheets. to this baker gas bills and flourished by the conflict in the East, and red saw no other option to beat the numbers. “I finally had to do it, I couldn’t afford all the expenses,” she admits.
His family devoted himself to the center Leida owns one of humanity’s oldest tradesmen and currently runs two bakeries and a staff of 10. When Russian troops crossed the Ukrainian border costs doubled. Today, they are three times higher than before the war.
Llaràs managed to prevent the possible customer flighttempted by ssupermarkets and their worst but cheapest bread. This is nothing but a 12% price increase in two batches last year. Considering that bread has become more expensive by 13.5 percent in the last year, according to January CPI data, this figure is below the average.
“Right now I’m trying to hold on without raising prices again. I know I’ll have to do it again this year, another 6%, but I don’t even know when, I’m taking the best moment not to hurt customers,” he confirms.
20 years ago Llaraàs went light your ovens with firewoodas in his family throughout his life, gas. It’s cleaner and more practical, but at the center of the price spiral today. “We have left a year behind. financial suffering important. With accumulated wear… I’m happy because ‘just’ I pay 200% more electricity than last year. No more. But there is no way the prices will go down!” she complains.
Consumption stopped and the economic catastrophe that more than one predicted for this year has yet to happen. Consumption continues for now, and Llaràs says he hired someone to replace the person he had to fire. “This Christmas we sold more than ever before, but then you do the math and they don’t come out. At the end of the month I had to ask for some payments to be deferred,” he explains. “I don’t have good feelings for this 2023,” he adds.
Susanna Visauta, industrialist: “Good prospects, total uncertainty”
Optimism or pessimism among companies in the face of the persistent price crisis varies by neighborhood. likewise he baker Llaraas did not show good feelings for this year, Managing director of Suinsa, Susanna Visautacalled “excited”. “We have good prospects, we already had a few projects in development that we started producing and There are markets where we stop during the pandemic process. and they’re re-enabled”. mechanical manufacturing of high value-added parts.
However, he acknowledges that the rumors from partners and customers are “not good” and he is “cautious” for the year. His company, an SME with 35 employees – was 30 when he was working at EL PERIÓDICO last year – highly dependent on steelimported from: Ukraine, and energy, prices are still rising rapidly. Visata last year fixed electricity contract This allowed him to be sure of how much he would pay per kilowatt, despite the increase. Today, it has not been able to renew it under the same conditions, and by checking the counter every month, it learns how much the bills have come. “When you call to order, they give you one price when you ask, and another price when you call back to place an order. someone Transport The price cannot be guaranteed until the day the truck leaves. “I live in complete uncertainty.”
Despite this fog, Suinsa’s activity is increasing. Now they are starting to produce for them. boeing Aircraft landing gear parts is an industry that was halted during covid and is now on the rise again. New additions to this medical device orders for ophthalmology anyone Blister packs for a well-known multinational pharmaceutical. “I am excited but also cautious. With the renewal of the metal deal, labor costs increased a lot. And I know I trust more people, if things don’t go well for them, they can ruin my forecast. “I’m not excluding anything for this year,” he said.
Robert Cot, trader: “The war affected as a pretext: if we wanted to, it would not have affected us at all”
It has only 11 years of experience and will be the third oldest business in the world when its neighbor closes in a few days. The main shopping street in the El Clot district, inside Barcelona. “There’s a problem,” says the self-employed self-employed person, robert cotowner autochthonous grocer. Of course, in this long decade, the last 3 years have been an absolute storm: Pandemic benefiting from being a food store – combined with war in ukraine into an unprecedented increase in costs. “From May to November I was paying more than 1,300 euros a month for electricity, at that time my normal cost was around 300 euros and my historical maximum was 700 euros,” says this small businessman, who also saw the price increase. price of incoming product.
And your business is based Food sale from Catalonia yes or yes, as a limit of what he understands from the product of km0. So, a priori, there would be no reason to notice a price increase resulting from a price increase. increase in the cost of long-distance transport or Russia and Ukraine deficit depending on which products when cutting the faucet. And yet it did. “We are a very rich country, but we are very dependent on export, that sets a market price, and the majority here,” Cot analyzes. “He metastasized from a small cancer and now we’re all in the ‘if you buy 1 euro, I get 20 cents more’ wheel,” he assures.
“The war did, yes, but as an excuse, if we really wanted it, it wouldn’t have affected us at all,” Cot says, despite this proximity, he’s been buying more for months.
The result has been see their margins shrink a lotbecause he tried to raise the price high enough and converted the c.full time contract the only employee in an in-between. “Anyone who has a bit of a bed can bear it, anyone who can’t, it’s impossible,” says Cot. “The costs are too high and the free market is not that free,” he complains in a hopeless reading: “That won’t change when VAT is returned, and it won’t change when the war in Ukraine is over.”
Restaurateur Leandro Izquierdo: “I’m full every day and I’ve been losing money for three years”
This Pandemic It was a ‘shock’ for him. tourism and restaurantsis one of the sectors most affected by the coronavirus crisis, having to close their workplaces tightly. This is the case of the anEl restaurant run by. Leandro IzquierdoLocated near Puerta de Alcalá in Madrid, it is a destination for regular customers of surrounding companies and tourists visiting the city. “I’m full every day and I’ve been losing money for three years,” Izquierdo told EL PERIÓDICO.
The businessman has set a date in his mind: July 2021. Anel would pay. electricity bill of 1,600 euro per month, which is 3,500 euro from that date And Increased to 5,000 Euros in August 2021. “The bill has more than tripled. Electricity has always been a high expense for us, but more than €5,000 for a restaurant is excessive,” he explains. “Before the war started, all prices were already very high. However, many providers are resisting not to pass the hike on to their customers, thinking that it will be temporary, but no solution has been found even after months.”
Izquierdo lists the following among the products whose costs have increased the most: fat, sugar, milk and above all vegetables. “I pay almost the same money to the vegetable supplier. fish and meatNoting that the increase for this product is 10% or 20%, but “the price has doubled,” explains Izquierdo, where it was almost half before.
And as costs rose, the only consequence he could think of was raising prices. “If I cut staff, I won’t provide good service; If I do not provide good service, the customer will not come. I’m not short on quality either, because if I do, customers will see the restaurant change, which means we’re going to lose customers. The only way to stabilize and sustain ourselves is to raise prices because we can’t squeeze suppliers either. “We realize that while things are going up for them, they have been adjusting and tightening a lot for months without raising prices,” he explains.