A few days before Easter, the food industry is reassuring the public about food supply.
“We don’t expect shortages of individual foods at the moment” said Olivier Kölsch, managing director of the Confederation of the German Food Industry (BVE), to the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” (Tuesday edition). “Manufacturer stock levels are well stocked”.
Kölsch pointed out that even if the war in Iran continued and disrupted supply chains, many raw materials sourced from the Middle East could be substituted with imports from other regions.
However, he warned that the shift to different trade routes and a tighter supply situation has already driven up purchasing prices for numerous raw materials. Production costs are also rising, mainly due to higher energy and fuel prices. “This is already noticeably burdening food and beverage manufacturers in Germany” he explained.
According to Kölsch, whether and to what extent these cost increases will end up in consumer prices ultimately depends on the food trade, not on the manufacturers themselves.