The Association of Hungarian Confectionery Manufacturers together with the European confectionery industry association, CAOBISCO, draws attention to the fact that the energy crisis has a significant impact on confectionery manufacturers. At their meeting on October 20-21, the heads of state and government of the 27 EU members may agree on how to reduce the price of natural gas, and this is also vital for confectionery production.
The European confectionery industry comprises 12,000 companies, 99% of which are SMEs and employ 225,000 people. Europe produces nearly 15 million tons of chocolate, biscuits and snacks at a value of EUR 60 billion per year. This makes the confectionery industry one of the most dynamic and largest manufacturing and exporting sectors in Europe, which builds on both tradition and innovation. In addition, it contributes greatly to the preservation and development of local communities. Domestically, the confectionery industry includes approximately 250 companies, employs nearly 5,000 people, has annual sales of HUF 230 billion, and profits of around HUF 9 billion.
The representatives of the confectionery industry support the diversification and stabilisation of energy supply, the development of energy production, the reduction of energy prices and the insurance of predictability.
In the confectionery industry, the extremely energy-intensive baking, heating and deep-freezing processes in particular cannot do without a reliable and affordable energy supply. Companies are increasingly worried that they will not be able to manage or simply pass on soaring energy prices to their customers. In particular, the price of natural gas and electricity endangers production, thus also the ability to continue delivering the desired products to consumers without interruptions.
In addition to energy, the costs of packaging, transportation, labour, machines, parts and basic raw materials have also increased. A typical example is the increase in the price of sugar, dextrose, glucose or isoglucose, and the delivery of these sugar products is also hampered due to limited supplies. If there is no sugar, there is no production. Due to energy prices and supply problems, many confectionery companies may soon be faced with a difficult decision: to temporarily stop or reduce their production, or to withdraw products from production this winter.
For the further development of the confectionery industry, and in order to maintain export performance, supply to the public, factories and jobs, the industry considers the creation of energy stability and price stability to be the most important and trusts in the results of the meeting on October 20-21.