Rising baguette price fears putting French in a crunch

PARIS — A hike in the cost of wheat is alarming French households who fear a possible rise in the price of the prized baguette, seen by many as a barometer of the country’s economic health.

Many boulangeries around France are putting up signs, warning customers that the long, crunchy staple could be going up in price by 4 to 6 cents, from its average of just over $1.

“Although that might not seem like a lot, it’s a huge increase. The baguette is precious. It has only gone up 23 centimes (about 28 cents) in the last 20 years,” said Dominique Anract, president of the French Confederation of Bakeries and Pastry Shops.

The bread industry crunch has been linked to a 30% worldwide increase since September in the price of wheat — one of the baguette’s key ingredients — after bad harvests in Russia, Anract said. Rising energy prices that are making ovens more expensive to operate are also a factor, Anract and other experts say, with businesses and consumers worldwide already feeling the heat of higher prices from supply chain and labor constraints.

France’s 67 million people are voracious consumers of the baguette. The country’s “Bread Observatory” — a venerable institution that closely follows the fortunes of the famed 26-inch loaf — notes that the French munch through 320 baguettes every second. That’s an average of half a baguette per person per day and more than 10 billion a year.

“Even 3 centimes (4 cents) higher is dire when played out nationwide,” Anract said. “The baguette is our emblem, our symbol, the thermometer of our economy.

Calling it “depressing news,” 43-year-old engineer Franck Nguyen said “the baguette is an institution in France. If the price goes up by too much, there will be big opposition.”

Although the baguette seems like the quintessential French product, it was said to have been invented by Vienna-born baker August Zang in 1839. Zang put in place France’s steam oven, making it possible to produce bread with a brittle crust yet fluffy interior.

Baguettes are such serious business that bread observers say bakers around France are willing to sacrifice other bread products to maintain the price of the baguette, by spreading around extra costs.