Bread sales can't cover energy bill at family-run Dutch bakery

An employee prepares bread at a bakery in Hoevelaken, Netherlands September 21, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

HOEVELAKEN, Netherlands (Reuters) - For five generations, Dutchman Dennis Toebast's family has prospered as bread bakers. But since the war in Ukraine his energy bills have jumped fivefold, casting doubt on plans to eventually hand the business down to his daughter.

With as many as a million Dutch households at risk of being pushed below the poverty line due to soaring gas and electricity bills, the government of the Netherlands on Tuesday announced 18 billion euros ($17.8 billion) worth of measures in 2023 to shield people from a cost of living crisis.