The people behind Greece’s neighborhood bakeries are sounding the alarm over the future of their businesses, urging the public to support local shops as rising energy costs and higher prices for raw materials threaten their survival. The industry says 1,500 bakeries have closed across Greece over the past three years, and is calling on the government to introduce immediate financial relief measures.
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The appeal came Friday, October 16, on World Bread Day, as bakers gathered in central Athens for an annual celebration of their craft that took on a more urgent tone against the backdrop of the industry’s growing economic difficulties.
At Klafthmonos Square, the heart of the Greek capital was transformed into an open-air bakery for the 2026 Bread Festival, organized by the Guild of Bakers of Athens, Its Suburbs and Surrounding Areas. From early morning, dozens of bakers and students from vocational schools run by Greece’s Public Employment Service kneaded and baked loaves, baguettes, sesame bread rings, sweet braided bread and other baked goods in front of passersby.
The aroma of fresh flour, warm bread and yeast filled the square, offering visitors a glimpse into the work behind their daily bread. But behind the festive atmosphere, bakers were delivering a stark message: without support from consumers and the government, more neighborhood bakeries could disappear.
Rising energy costs push bakeries to the brink
Jason Kaplanis, president of the bakers’ guild, told Orange Press Agency that the event offered an opportunity to showcase the profession and provide consumers with bread that is as high-quality and affordable as possible.
“For World Bread Day, we have set up an open-air bakery where we make bread—that is what we know best in life—and offer it to consumers at the highest possible quality and the lowest possible price,” Kaplanis said.
But the industry faces mounting challenges, with energy costs among its biggest concerns. Kaplanis said disruptions and cost pressures associated with the Strait of Hormuz had driven costs up by 40% to 50%, also pushing up the prices of the raw materials used in baking.
Despite efforts to absorb these increases rather than pass them on to customers, many businesses have been unable to stay afloat. According to Kaplanis, 1,500 bakeries nationwide have shut down over the past three years, leaving the future of Greece’s traditional neighborhood bakery increasingly uncertain.
Why bakers say fresh bread makes a difference
Beyond their financial concerns, bakers are making a case for the quality and freshness of bread produced in traditional bakeries, arguing that it cannot be compared with products sold by some large supermarkets.
Kaplanis criticized outlets that describe themselves as bakeries but primarily bake products made elsewhere, many of which are found inside large supermarkets. Such businesses, he argued, often perform only the final baking stage rather than producing bread from scratch.
“Consumers will find this kind of bread only at their neighborhood bakery, not at certain establishments that are called ‘bakeries,’ in quotation marks, where they only carry out the final baking, most often inside large supermarkets,” he said.
Traditional bakeries, he added, complete the production process within a matter of hours, without relying on dough that has been frozen for months.
Kaplanis also challenged the perception that neighborhood bakeries are more expensive than supermarkets. He said the guild could provide evidence that bread sold at local bakeries is considerably cheaper than bread sold in large supermarket chains.
For bakers, the distinction goes beyond price. They argue that freshly prepared bread, made by professionals who oversee the production process from start to finish, offers consumers a different level of quality.
A neighborhood institution under threat
Bakers are also asking consumers to consider the broader role their businesses play in Greek communities.
For generations, neighborhood bakeries have been a fixture of daily life, providing bread to families and, often quietly and free of charge, helping households facing financial hardship.
Bakers say this tradition of solidarity and personal contact is an essential part of what makes their businesses different from large, impersonal retail chains. They warn that the disappearance of local shops would mean losing more than a place to buy bread: it would also weaken a longstanding network of community support.
Their appeal, therefore, is not simply a request to purchase from small businesses. It is a call to preserve a familiar part of neighborhood life while the people who sustain it struggle to cope with rising costs.
Bakers demand immediate government action
Alongside their appeal to consumers, bakers are demanding urgent measures from the Greek government to support small, independent bakeries.
Their proposals include price caps at oil refineries, reductions or the abolition of special consumption taxes and value-added tax (VAT), a tax-free income threshold of €12,000, and the abolition of presumptive taxation—a system under which taxable income can be calculated using assumed earnings rather than actual declared income.
Kaplanis expressed frustration at what he described as a lack of response from the authorities.
“Unfortunately, to this day, we have seen no response from the state,” he said.
The demands come as bakers struggle to keep their businesses operating while maintaining affordable prices for consumers. Their message is that small bakeries cannot continue absorbing rising expenses indefinitely without putting their financial survival at risk.
Bread Festival invites Athenians to support local bakeries
The Bread Festival at Klafthmonos Square continues Friday and Saturday, October 16 and 17, with bakers inviting the public to discover the secrets of breadmaking firsthand and show tangible support for their neighborhood bakeries.
The event celebrates bread as both a staple of everyday life and a product shaped by the skill and labor of the people who make it. This year, however, its message extends beyond the craft itself.
As energy costs rise and hundreds of businesses struggle to survive, Greece’s bakers are asking consumers to think about where their bread comes from—and what their communities stand to lose if the neighborhood bakery disappears.
Their message on World Bread Day is straightforward: support local bakers before more of them are forced to close their doors.