French millers must raise their prices to cope with rising costs

Wheat is one of the products that has increased the most following the war in Ukraine. Its price reached 438 euros per ton, it more than doubled in one year. This obviously has an impact on independent millers who are suffering from the increase in costs. The France Télévisions teams followed one of them to Anneyronin the Drôme. Olivier Jouve gets his supplies 30 kilometers from his home. “Whether we buy wheat near or far, as the price of wheat is indexed on the stock market, well, it’s the world price. From miller’s memory, we had never known that“, he explains.

A mixed French harvest last year, the war in Ukraine, the cessation of exports to India have caused prices to double. The Drôme miller was caught by surprise, and like the others he had to anticipate his orders. “I bought the wheat until the new harvest, until August“, explains Olivier Jouve. A well-constrained cash flow and higher energy costs have resulted in the miller increasing his package prices: plus 5 to 10% for its bakery customers and more 20% for retail. But there is not enough to compensate for the rise in prices.