Businesses face vulnerability as inflation drives costs to rise faster than sales. The conflict in Ukraine contributed to higher prices for raw materials, electricity, and fuel. This pressure hits sectors that operate 24 hours a day and rely on constant energy, such as bakeries, patisseries, and butcher shops. Facpyme and Confecomerc therefore advocate recognizing these as high‑energy consumption sectors and urge decisive steps to navigate this difficult environment.
Bakers operate under ongoing uncertainty due to persistent inflation, casting doubt on the sector’s future. Industry groups explain that bakers must absorb rising costs for essentials like flour, yeast, sugar, milk, and eggs, without always being able to reflect these increases in product prices. This creates a real dilemma as input costs escalate while revenues struggle to keep pace.
The government’s Royal Decree on electricity‑intensive firms targeted large bakeries and the pastry sector, yet the CNAE category for trade remains outside this framework. Consequently, firms in this space require administrative support to sustain their business activities, particularly those with high energy use that are part of the industry’s fabric.
These challenges are compounded by a lack of generational continuity in some family‑run bakeries. The inflationary spiral has strained traditional business lines passed from one generation to the next, contributing to closures that threaten local livelihoods.
The disappearance of these facilities would have serious economic and social consequences for neighborhoods and towns. Early retirements and a notable decline in bakery presence would reshape local commerce and could become a self‑reinforcing trend without prompt intervention.
The bakery and patisserie sector in the region represents a pillar of the food economy, supplying crowds daily and serving other businesses in hospitality and catering. In other countries, including France, measures already support merchants facing high electricity bills, with options to defer tax and social security contributions and direct relief for energy costs. This reflects a broader recognition that sustaining traditional bakeries and patisseries benefits communities and the local economy.
Butchers face similar pressures
Butchers confront elevated costs as well. Their facilities and equipment demand continuous energy use, including after normal business hours and on weekends. In addition to standard operating expenses, cold storage, display counters, slicers, wrappers, mincers, and ovens add to the ongoing energy demand and maintenance costs for these operations.
Beyond energy, meat purchases are often subject to VAT rules that influence profitability. Reducing VAT on meat products could relieve pressure, encourage consumer demand, and help these businesses endure a period of high operating costs and vulnerability.
Strengthening trade through education
Faced with mounting pressures, Facpyme and Confecomerc advocate for active measures to reverse the trend. These sectors uphold artisanal production where hands‑on craft remains central, underscoring the need for professional development and broader consumer education. There is a push to recognize these shops as essential components of urban commerce, stocking essential, healthy products for daily consumption and preserving the social and economic fabric of communities. The sentiment is clear: shops offering indispensable goods must not be allowed to vanish.
Energy costs drive export and import dynamics
These organizations note that bakeries and butcher shops are deeply rooted in the Valencian Community, forming an integral part of its history and representing a tradition of autonomous, quality products. They emphasize that such businesses are sustainable, locally anchored, and vital to the neighborhood economy. Without swift action, closures could escalate, threatening the continuity of bakery and traditional butcher services and weakening local resilience.