The French government’s attempt to reform the labor markets and stimulate growth has had some unintended consequences this summer: it’s harder to get a decent baguette in Paris.
For the first time in half a century bakers, considered a quasi-public service in France, no longer have their summer holiday regulated by the Paris préfet, and can take as much time off as they like.
Previously, the city’s administrative authority informed bakers which weeks they could take off, a system that ensured every area had an artisanal baker open nearby over the slow summer months, to serve the French habit of buying freshly baked bread on a daily basis.
“Parisians are in a grotesque situation,” said Rémi Héluin, the founder of Painrisien, a blog about Parisian bakeries. “Many of the artisanal bakers are on vacation at the same time, and there is a total lack of co-ordination.”
He estimated that about two-thirds of bakers are closed this month, compared with half normally, leaving it harder to find bread in some areas.
“It’s more difficult,” agreed Aude Debout, a 30-year-old designer who lives in the east of Paris. “I find myself buying more sliced bread from the supermarket — and that’s not even really bread.”
Bakers can now take holidays when they like in the summer, but they still are told which day they have to take off every week so not all are closed together.
Parisian bakers are not completely deregulated though — far from it. A 1998 law still in place states that to be called a boulangerie in France, the dough must be made and baked on the premises. The price of bread was fixed until as late as 1986.
The bakers, however, are pleased by the latest change.
Morgan Marie, a baker for eight years in Paris on the Rue de Charonne also in the east of Paris, says that it was sometimes irritating to be told to stay open in August, because there are so few customers.
“If nearly all my clients are on holiday it’s not profitable. It’s much better to be able to open when I like. It’s not that bad if clients have to walk a little longer for a few weeks to find bread in the summer,” he said.
Some bakers say they are taking advantage of it. “For us it’s a plus,” said Arnand Anita, the manager of A La Flûte Enchantée, which is not closing at all this summer. “We will bring in customers and hopefully keep them.”
edited from The Financial Times
