Germans are being urged to get ready for empty refrigerators as Energy crisis compromises Food Security

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Germans are being urged to get ready for empty refrigerators as Energy crisis compromises Food Security

September 25th, 2022

Awake Goy

Home » Europe, Social » Germans are being urged to get ready for empty refrigerators as Energy crisis compromises Food Security

Manufacturers associations have written an open letter to the German government warning that the fresh and frozen food industries in Germany are experiencing their “worst crisis since the end of the Second World War” and could experience a wave of bankruptcies and production restrictions, resulting in gaps on store shelves.

The historic industrial powerhouse of Central Europe has been severely impacted by the region’s energy crisis, which is partly the result of Brussels’ determination to gradually phase out Russian oil and gas as “punishment” for Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine. The European Union is “in no position” to “dictate” its “will” to Russia on energy-related issues, according to President Putin.

“There is a serious chance that people in Germany won’t have enough food to eat every day. The letter, which was published by Welt and was written to Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Cem Ozdemir, Economy Minister Robert Habeck, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, warned that the situation was “more than serious.”

The request was written by the Federal Fish Association, the German Fruit Trade Association, the German Frozen Food Institute, and the Association of German Cold Stores and Cold Logistics Companies, together with five other business associations.

Companies worry that manufacturing lines will soon halt and that food distribution hubs with chilled logistics would stop. “One minute to midnight,” the letter declared, describing how some people are even prepared for potential bankruptcy.

“Take immediate action. If not, Germans’ refrigerators would soon be empty, the appeal said.

Germany’s frozen food and fresh produce industries have been particularly badly impacted by energy price shocks, and manufacturers have complained that the country has not provided them with any financial assistance throughout the crisis.

The letter also cautioned that additional issues, such as staff and raw material shortages and supply chain interruptions, were hurting the bottom lines of food producers as a whole. The appeal said that “Companies can no longer offset these enormous cost increases through savings or by passing [costs] on to consumers.”

According to Dr. Sabine Eichner, general director of the German Frozen Food Institute, Welt prepared the group letter to separate requests by several business organizations from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture after weeks of quiet.

The need for help is “huge, but nobody listens to us,” Eichner said, adding that “Minister Ozdemir obviously accepts that enterprises will go bankrupt.”

With a €186 billion yearly sales, 6,200 distinct enterprises, and 638,000 people, the German food sector has pushed for “extensive” targeted funding for individual businesses as well as increased access to energy at discounted flat prices.

Germany and other European nations are preparing for a severe winter, which will exacerbate economic issues brought on by the rise in energy prices and the inflation squeeze as well as potential political unrest amid escalating public resentment. The German energy giant Uniper earlier this month issued a dire warning, stating that the “worst is yet to come” in terms of the current energy crisis.

For the purpose of their government’s ongoing economic hybrid war with Russia, Germans have already been urged to make sacrifices at the grocery store, at the gas station, in their houses, and in terms of personal cleanliness. The Financial Times reported on Thursday that German toilet paper manufacturers face bankruptcy. German beer companies were compelled to reduce output last week as a result of increased gas prices.

According to a poll conducted by the Institute for New Social Answers (INSA) in June for the Bild newspaper, 1 in 6 Germans have skipped meals in order to make ends meet, and those who are 13 percent more vulnerable due to price increases.

In remarks to the media in Vladivostok earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin discussed the European energy situation and emphasized that Russia would be ready to switch on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines “tomorrow” if Western nations and their allies lifted sanctions and other limitations.

“The West put itself at a ‘dead end’ with sanctions. There is just one escape route. Germany is seeing protests calling for the activation of Nord Stream 2. We concur with these demands made by German energy users. Tomorrow, we’re prepared to do it. It is sufficient to only push a button. We did not, however, impose restrictions on Nord Stream 2. Under pressure from the US, [Europe] agreed. What’s the reason for American pressure on the Europeans? Because they themselves want to charge people three times as much for gas, according to Putin.

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