French baker’s wood-fired oven saves on energy costs

STORY: Location: Challans, France

Wood-fired bread-making is this

baker’s solution to rising energy costs

(Franck Burgaud, Baker)

“We chose this way of cooking bread for its authenticity. It really is another way of making bread than traditional electric cooking. It’s about going back to the roots and work on the bread as best as possible.”

Thanks to his preference for wood, Burgaud

has been saving big on his energy bills

“Wood prices have risen by 3% to a maximum of 5% over the last year. This is not even remotely close to the electricity prices. And in the case of a power outage, the wood-fired oven will always work.”

But even with the savings, Burgaud says

he still feels the impact of inflation

“Eggs cost almost twice as much, butters are up by 50%, flour has risen a lot as well. Flour now costs 15 to 20% more than before. The problem at the moment is that all the raw materials have seen their price significantly increase, in addition to energy costs. It is unbearable. On the long term, we’re in the dark. It is truly worrisome.”