By Uche Mbah
Bakers in Lagos are lamented the high cost of baking materials and has threatening to increase the price of bread again.
The price could go up as much as 50 % if the government does nothing about their plight.
In the wake of the pandemic, the cost of bread went up due to the increased cost of production. There is, also, a 5% tariff on wheat imports.
In a press statement, two bakers’ union, the Premium Bread Makers Association of Nigeria (PBAN) and the Association of Master Bakers & Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN) lamented the high cost of purchasing baking ingredients in Nigeria, saying it is akin to the attempts to wipe out the bread making industry in the country.
The cost of bread production ingredients have been steadily rising at a time when the government has increased electricity tariff and price of petroleum products, thereby fuelling insinuations by the opposition that the the Federal Government is on a mission to annihilate the poor and vulnerable in the country.
The group called on the FG to come to their rescue by looking into the increase in the prices of the essential material.
While addressing journalists at the press conference on Thursday, The president of PBAN, Tosan Jemide, said that bread has become a major staple food for most Nigerian households, irrespective of social standing and any hindrance towards its production could affect the country’s economy adversely.
“Although we have been experiencing difficulties for a while, the period between March 2020 and August 2020, the price of flour which is our major ingredient has increased from N10,500 per 50kg bag to N13,500 per bag. Sugar increased from N13,500 per bag, went as high as N29,000 and down to N19,000 per bag in the corresponding period.
“Margarine, from N5,800 is almost N11,000. A 25 liter can of Vegetable oil which was about N13,000 thousand now sells for N16,000 while Milk which was hitherto N29,000, now goes for N52,000. Preservative (Calcium Propionate) increased from N25,000 to N34,500, with the possibility of further price increases not ruled out,” he said.
According to Jemide, members of the association have been enduring the price hike in the past six months without a corresponding increase in the prices of bread. He added that bakers could no longer continue to subsidize the cost of bread without jeopardizing their profit.
