The court of Den Bosch declared Bakkerij d’n Bekker bankrupt with six stores in Land van Cuijk. All stores were closed and 48 employees lost their jobs. “With these energy prices, it’s no longer possible,” says baker Hans van Duijvenvoorde. It is one of the first big bakeries in Brabant to go bankrupt due to high energy prices.
Bakkerij d’n Bekker has six stores in Haps, Grave, Cuijk, Boxmeer, Mill and Gennep in Limburg. Stores are closed since Tuesday. There is a note on the door. “With a heavy heart we had to decide to close the doors. The note stated that due to the significant increases in the prices of raw materials and electricity, our beautiful work could no longer be continued.”
“We tried to keep it up to the end,” says baker Hans van Duijvenvoorde in response. “At a certain point, you are waiting to see who will last longer. You or your colleagues. If your colleague signed the position, you might be able to take over some of his sales. But now you are the first to go.”
48 people on the street
The biggest culprit is the massive rise in energy prices. “For the shop in Haps alone, it went from €2,000 per month to €12,000,” says van Duijvenvoorde. “And you can’t pass all those prices on bread. You’ve already gotten as far as you can ask for a loaf of bread.”
Thus, the bakery chain has now been declared bankrupt. “We spoke to the staff on Monday evening. There are now 48 people on the street,” says the baker. All shops have been closed since Tuesday.
10 percent will fall off
The national government is working on a support package to partially compensate companies such as bakers for higher energy prices. This will be introduced in the spring. “It’s too late for us,” says van Duijvenvoorde. Your energy costs should be 12.5 percent of the turnover. Usually that’s 4 percent for us. Now with these energy prices no more than 10 per cent. So we will not be eligible for this support.”
Bakker Hans van Duijvenvoorde believes he won’t be the last to not succeed. “I expect that 10 percent of bakers will collapse by the end of the year.”
