German confectionery manufacturers are struggling with the effects of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The procurement of agricultural raw materials is difficult and manufacturers are trying to switch to other ingredients. They are then faced with the problem of the legal obligation to declare ingredients on packaging. The packaging industry is also affected by the delayed availability of materials.
The biggest challenge for confectionery manufacturers is a Impending gas shortage. In addition, there are further challenges: the market for important raw materials is empty and long-standing supply chains are no longer functioning. In particular, manufacturers are faced with significant price increases and increasingly Supply difficulties in purchasing important agricultural raw materials such as wheat, sunflower oil, sunflower lecithin and nuts. The cost of milk powder, sugar, eggs and palm oil has also risen significantly recently.
„Together with politicians and the food trade, we must ensure that entire shelves in supermarkets do not remain empty. This risk also exists for many popular Confectionery. Politicians must now examine all measures that will help food manufacturers to continue producing.“
Bastian Fassin, Chairman of the Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry (BDSI)
Manufacturers therefore need temporary exemptions from the legal obligation to declare their products as long as individual ingredients are no longer available on the market, as alternative ingredients must be used. The exemption due to the Recipe change required Packaging reprint however, is currently failing due to a lack of Delayed availability of packaging material. The industry wants to ensure that sufficient food is still available, even if it now contains rapeseed oil instead of sunflower oil, without this being explicitly stated on the packaging.
The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture encourages companies and also the monitoring authorities, Utilising room for manoeuvre, that the existing legal framework offers for changes to labelling if individual ingredients are no longer available on the market. This means that even after printing and before the food is handed over to the end consumer, labelling changes could still be made. Changes to the label can be made.
„This is the right step, but it has to work in practice. During the coronavirus crisis, we saw a huge mess of different regulations in the EU. This must not be repeated here. The companies in the German confectionery industry are on Help from politicians not only in Germany, but also in Europe because German confectionery is often produced not only for the German market, but also for the European domestic market.“
Bastian Fassin
Source: Federal Association of the German Confectionery Industry.
