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A baker in Bavaria who says he had to spend €15,000 on new scales after a row with a customer over half a loaf of bread has made headlines across Germany.
The dispute took place in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, a town north of Munich, where baker Matthias Breitner has for decades sold half loaves to customers who do not want to buy a whole one.
The dispute started by email
As first reported by Bild and RTL, the row began when a customer emailed to complain after weighing a half loaf at home and discovering it was 10 grams lighter than half the stated weight of a full loaf.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Next time it will surely be ten grams more,” Breitner replied.
The customer subsequently contacted the authorities, and the local weights and measures office told Breitner he could no longer sell half loaves without weighing them individually.
The rules stem from Germany’s Pre-packaging Ordinance (Fertigpackungsverordnung), which implements EU requirements as well as additional national provisions.
Breitner says he does not want to sell pre-packaged half loaves, meaning portions cut for customers must instead be weighed at the point of sale.
As a result, he says he had to install new scales across his bakeries at a total cost of around €15,000.
Breitner said some other bakeries had stopped selling half loaves because they feared similar complaints and problems with weights and measures authorities.
German courts report rise in cases
Separately, German courts have reported a sharp increase in cases, with some officials suggesting that artificial intelligence is making it easier for people to prepare lengthy legal submissions.
According to reports by Tagesschau and the Süddeutsche Zeitung, more than 16,000 cases had been filed with the Berlin Labour Court by August — roughly as many as it would normally receive in an entire year.
Officials have cited the growing use of AI tools, including ChatGPT and Gemini, as one possible factor behind the increase, because they allow users to produce lengthy legal documents quickly.
However, there is no evidence that AI played any role in the complaint against Breitner’s bakery.
Additional sources • RTL, SZ