After problems with a large customer, the mills of our witness in the Herve region are also suffering from the energy crisis. He did his accounts: using a generator, a heat engine that transforms fuel into electricity…
Individual or professional, small or large company, the energy crisis does not spare anyone. Christian is a miller and he is well placed to say that the situation is catastrophic.
In a very special and essential profession, Christian plays a key role in bread in Wallonia. Until 2020, he owned the Val-Dieu mill, in the country of Herve, which produces flour for animals. Since July of that same year, it has also owned one of the last two mills in Wallonia which still manufactures edible flour for bread.
In two years, Christian has considerably increased the production of his mill, going from 2,000 to 8,000 tonnes produced. Today, Christian’s flour is found in nearly 300 bakeries and pastry shops for their preparations.
But in the face of this year’s galloping inflation, things are getting seriously complicated. The first blow came in the spring, when his supplier (the firm Elexis) abruptly terminated his contract. Without knowing the reason for this decision, Christian learns that his supplier no longer distributes in Wallonia or Brussels, but still in Flanders.
The miller refuses to accept the situation so easily and takes information from a lawyer to find out what actions can be brought in court. Today, he is looking for other companies in the same situation as him “to make a band that weighs more and sue them”.
35.000€ of electricity per month
Obliged to continue working, Christian takes a new contract with TotalEnergies. “At that time, the amount we were paying was similar”, he reports. But since this period, which corresponds to the start of the war in Ukraine, energy prices have skyrocketed. “We went from an invoice of 8,500 euros per month to 35,000 monthly”he laments.
With a consumption that varies from 50,000 to 60,000 kWh, the bills of the mill are subject “at current prices”.
As the prices are still far from being stabilized and the price of Christian’s invoices (like others) are likely to continue to increase, the miller no longer has a choice and has turned to his latest solution: afford a generator.
“My associate reckoned it’ll cost us half price. It’s not very green or in line with current trends, but it’s a question of survival”, regrets Christian. “It will run on gasoline and despite the increase in fuel prices, it still costs us less.”
If the price of many foodstuffs increased because of Russian and Ukrainian cereals which were no longer exported, Christian’s mills were not concerned since he only works with local farmers. But the increase in the price of energy inevitably affects flour and therefore the bread of consumers.
