Bakeries’ bunfight over seven-day week
FRANCE: Daggers are drawn over a century-old law obliging French bakers to shut shop once a week, after big bakery chains called for the rule to be scrapped in the name of free enterprise.
Traditional ‘‘boulangers’’ have warned that dropping the law could sound the death knell for local bakers who are the pride of France.
The French federation of baking companies (FEB) last month officially requested that the 1919 law enforcing a day of rest be dropped. The chains reportedly sought the change after the election as president of Emmanuel Macron, who has led a drive to extend commercial opening hours.
The FEB cited a survey suggesting that 87 per cent of French people wanted to be able to buy bread every day and 56 per cent were for scrapping the law.
The six-day week was introduced to ensure a rest for bakers forced to get up in the early hours to knead their dough. French bakeries stagger their days off.
Many bakers argue that a seven-daysa-week operation could kill their profession.
‘‘France’s 32,000 bakers are entitled to this weekly day of rest to spend time with the family,’’ said Dominique Anract, a Paris baker and president of the National Confederation of French Bakers.
‘‘To open seven days a week, you need several employees to work shifts, which artisan bakeries do not have.
‘‘To open one more day will only spread the same turnover over seven days, and thus bring up costs,’’ Anract said.
The big bakery chains have won a series of court orders enabling them to open seven days a week.
They say the ban on seven-day opening stifles growth at a time when the French are growing tired of baguettes and demanding new types of bread, cakes and snacks.
Feelings are running particularly high because of an upsurge in bakery bankruptcies and a fall in bread consumption across France. Bakeries are having to diversify to survive.
– Telegraph Group, The Times