Kevin and Sandrine Luce run a bakery in northern France and are struggling with soaring fuel prices SAINT-JUST-EN-CHAUSSÉE, France -- As the lights of their small bakery flicker on in the early morning darkness, Kevin and Sandrine Luce’s oven is already cranked up to 270 degrees Celsius (518 degrees Fahrenheit) to give their latest batch of baguettes a crunchy crust. When the couple first fired up the oven in their store in Saint-Just-en-Chaussée, a small town about 90 kilometers (55 miles) north of Paris, in March, they paid 2,230 euros ($2,540) for 2,000 liters (528 gallons) of the heating oil that it burns. Last week, they spent almost the same amount on just 1,200 liters (317 gallons).
Fuel prices that have spiked since the start of the Iran war on Feb. 28 are dealing a hard blow to the couple and other small businesses across Europe. So, yes, now it’s not a good deal.” The Luces aren't alone. There are more than 34,000 bakers across France churning out around 6 billion baguettes each year, according to the national federation of bakeries and patisseries, which says that about one quarter of them use oil- or gas-fired ovens.
As customers filed through the bakery for their morning baguettes, croissants and other pastries, Luce told The that “all this superfluous expenditure on energy represents a loss of earnings. It’s salary we can’t take, it’s salary increases we can’t give to our employees. It’s investments we can’t make.” Although inflicting pain globally, the energy crisis is biting particularly hard in the rural expanses and communities of the European Union’s largest country by area.
The roughly 21 million people who live in the countryside — about a third of the French population — often rely on cars to get around, because public transportation is limited. Rural areas make up nearly 90% of France’s territory. The so-called yellow vest protest movement, which rocked French President Emmanuel Macron’s government during his first term in office, put down wide roots in rural towns and villages, with protesters setting up camps on roundabouts.
The demonstrations, some violent, gripped France for months. Fuel prices were one of the triggers of the anger then, a painful memory for Macron’s ministers that hangs over them now, as they wrestle with renewed angst and fury about soaring costs. The French government responded this week with its latest aid package — worth an estimated 450 million euros (around $512 million) — for people and industries battered by the eye-watering prices at the pumps.
It includes subsidies for people who commute at least 15 kilometers (9 miles) to work and support ranging from 48 euros to 277 euros ($54 to $315) to assist 5.8 million families with their winter energy bills. Martial Realland sold his home to help realize his long-held dream of owning a food truck that he drives from village to village in the l’Oise region of northern France, selling savory ham and cheese pancakes, fries and other snacks. Filling the truck with diesel costs 200 euros (around $228), compared to 120 euros ($136) before the Iran war, he said.
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