There are nearly 50 per 100,000 inhabitants. The 33,000 French bakeries are the food businesses that have best resisted the closure of small shops, even if there were 55,000 in the 1950s. However, the desire for a melting viennoiserie or a baguette golden and crispy can come up against a seasonal hazard: the summer holidays of the bakers.
In this month of August, many bakers have lowered their curtains, displaying on the window a reopening date which may seem very distant to their loyal customers. Often, especially in big cities, there is not even a mention of another bakery still open nearby. “I haven’t found any around my house, at least not less than a quarter of an hour on foot”, annoys this Parisian, whose holidays ended at the same time as the month of July.
Walking far is not an option for Monique, a Parisian who is approaching 90 years old. The two bakeries in his neighborhood turned off their ovens at the same time. “Fortunately, the supermarkets are all open and selling bread, even if the quality has nothing to do with that of my baker,” she says.
The hunt for summer croutons
The hunt for summer croutons is facilitated throughout France by the regional press which, in its local editions, publishes for its readers the list of bakeries open in the various municipalities. This does not also prevent hiccups. If the tourist towns generally have few problems, this is not necessarily the case elsewhere. “I received a letter from local residents warning me that the three bakeries in the same small town in Brittany wanted to close at the same time, explains Dominique Anract, president of the National Confederation of French Bakery-Pastry (CNBPF). I alerted our local because, except in major circumstances, such a situation is not excusable. This can only make supermarkets happy. »
These situations were much less common until 2014. It was in fact the year when the law on administrative simplification was adopted which resulted, among other things, in the removal of the possibility, for a mayor or a prefect , to regulate summer holidays for bakeries. He could do so in case the latter had not been concerted. This arrangement was a legacy… of the French Revolution. The bakers were then requisitioned during the summer period in order to maintain the sale of a product which was the basis of the diet.
“In Paris, before 2015, we were incorporated into a group and each of these groups was required to close either in July or August, remembers Dominique Anract, owner of a bakery in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. And we alternated the closing month of the groups the following year. We were liable to a daily fine in the event of a breach of our obligations… No other craft trade, apart from pharmacies, was thus supervised with regard to its holidays. »
Competition from retail
It should be noted that, according to a rapporteur in the Senate during the discussion of the law in 2014, professional bakery organizations were not in favor of the end of this regulation, fearing that a possible simultaneous closure of shops would favor supermarkets.
“While it is true that not all bakeries always agree on their holiday dates, many still do so to prevent all customers from going to mass distribution, confirms Dominique Anract. They know that their customers will blame them for the closure when they return from vacation. » The boss of the CNBPF also highlights the economic situation of the profession: “Bakeries are closing for less and less time, he said. To stop your activity for a whole month, you really have to have strong cash flow, and this is increasingly rare. »