{"id":15572,"date":"2026-05-07T10:58:38","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/the-last-loaf-neighborhood-bakeries-struggle-to-survive\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T10:58:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:58:38","slug":"the-last-loaf-neighborhood-bakeries-struggle-to-survive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/in-greece.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/07\/the-last-loaf-neighborhood-bakeries-struggle-to-survive\/","title":{"rendered":"The last loaf? Neighborhood bakeries struggle to survive"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n \"The
\n <\/source><\/picture>\n

Yiannis Zervas, a third-generation baker in Petralona, believes he is the last member of the family who will keep the business alive. [Nikos Kokkalias]<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Yiannis Zervas gets up in the early hours every day, and by 4 a.m. he is already in his workshop, baking bread and preparing oat bars and sweets. It\u2019s a routine he\u2019s grown up with \u2013 first watching his parents, then hearing similar stories from his grandfather. His family opened its first bakery in Athens in the 1970s and has worked in the trade ever since.<\/p>\n

Now 31, Zervas trained as a baker and renovated the family shop in Petralona in 2003. But since taking over, he fears the tradition may end with him. \u201cIn fact, I believe I am the last generation that will keep the bakery going,\u201d he told Kathimerini.<\/p>\n

A combination of soaring energy costs, inflation, rising rents in central areas and shifting consumer habits is threatening the survival of neighborhood bakeries \u2013 many of which have already been hit hard. According to data from the bakers\u2019 association in Athens and the wider region, around 1,000 bakeries that produce their own bread have closed in the past three years. In total, some 3,000 bakeries, outlets, and pastry shops have shut down across the country during the same period.<\/p>\n

\n

\u2018We use an electric oven. When the war in Ukraine began, our costs rose by 300%. We couldn\u2019t absorb that. Just as things were starting to stabilize, another crisis hit\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Zervas is not surprised. He himself has considered closing over the past four years. \u201cOut of love for what I do \u2013 and stubbornness \u2013 I keep going. I remember helping my mother in the bakery from a young age. But the truth is, there are months when we operate at a loss,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n

The biggest challenge, he says, is energy. Costs surged after the war in Ukraine and have risen again due to the conflict in the Middle East. Bakeries rely on energy-intensive equipment \u2013 ovens powered by electricity, oil, or gas, and large refrigeration units \u2013 making them highly vulnerable to price increases. \u201cWe use an electric oven. When the war in Ukraine began, our costs rose by 300%. We couldn\u2019t absorb that. Just as things were starting to stabilize, another crisis hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Zervas, recent developments have pushed costs up by another 40-50%, with more increases expected. Energy providers, he adds, have refused to offer fixed-rate contracts, leaving businesses exposed. \u201cOur electricity bills are now two to three times higher than our rent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last electricity bill I received was \u20ac1,000,\u201d says Dionysia Christou, who runs a bakery with her husband in Piraeus. Unlike many in the trade, Christou entered the field without prior experience. When the couple opened their bakery in 2010, it was a way out of financial hardship during the economic crisis \u2013 and it proved successful. Sixteen years later, however, they find themselves grappling with a new, geopolitically driven crisis.<\/p>\n

Costs have risen across the board. \u201cI specialize in sweets, and I can tell you that the price of chocolate is like the stock market \u2013 it\u2019s gone up by as much as 60%,\u201d she says. \u201cNow I try to produce smaller quantities that last longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strain has forced difficult decisions. \u201cWe\u2019ve reduced staff. We now have one assistant for a few hours a day and one part-time worker in the bakery. My husband and I cover everything else \u2013 from 7 in the morning until 8 at night. It\u2019s extremely demanding, and I don\u2019t know how long we can keep it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"the-last-loaf-neighborhood-bakeries-struggle-to-survive0\"\"the-last-loaf-neighborhood-bakeries-struggle-to-survive1\"
Confectioner Dionysia Christou and her husband had to let staff go as profits dwindled at their Piraeus bakery, which opened in 2010. [Nikos Kokkalias]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the same time, consumer behavior is shifting. Customers are buying less or visiting bakeries mainly on special occasions. Still, both Christou and Zervas say competition from supermarkets is not the core issue. \u201cBread simply isn\u2019t profitable anymore,\u201d Christou explains. \u201cThe margins on a loaf are minimal.\u201d In her view, the sector is heading for a major transformation: \u201cThose who survive will be the ones who specialize.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cArtisanal baking, as we\u2019ve known it, has no future in this country,\u201d says Iasonas Kaplanis, president of the bakers\u2019 association. \u201cIn 2010, there were 15,500 bakeries. By 2026, that number has fallen below 13,000.\u201d Speaking from his bakery in Menidi, in western Athens, he describes a profession that demands relentless work \u2013 seven days a week, without breaks for holidays. \u201cWhen that effort is no longer rewarded, people leave. Some family bakeries close because there\u2019s no successor. I will discourage my own children from entering the trade.\u201d<\/p>\n

And yet, as a second-generation baker himself, Kaplanis watches the sector\u2019s decline with deep frustration. He insists that traditional bakeries remain vital \u2013 offering quality products made with fresh, not frozen, dough, while supporting a wider network of suppliers, from flour and oil to butter and other raw materials. \u201cWe want to protect our businesses \u2013 and, at the same time, the most basic staple of the Greek household.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"the-last-loaf-neighborhood-bakeries-struggle-to-survive2\"\"the-last-loaf-neighborhood-bakeries-struggle-to-survive3\"
Iasonas Kaplanis inherited his bakery in Menidi from his parents but does not plan to encourage his own children to carry the torch. [Nikos Kokkalias]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n