Low income earning families in Calabar, Cross River State now find it difficult to include bread in their menu following the rise in the price of the commodity.
Since November last year, the price of flour, sugar, salt, butter, vegetable oil, yeast, fire wood has remained on the rise with members of the Master Bakers and Caterers Association operating in the city saying they have found it difficult to break even.
Calabar:
"We decided to increase our prices a little owing to the high cost of bakery materials and other household items for bread production. Since the commencement of this year, price of flour has been increased three times. The worst part of it is that when manufacturers and distributors of these materials increase their prices, we master bakers are not consulted," chairman of the association in Calabar, John Madu said in an interview.
He revealed that between November and now, a bag of flour increased from N5,100to N5,500 and now N6,500. Sugar that sold for N6,000 per 50 kilogramme bag now goes for N12,000. He added that master bakers were wondering what they were going to do about this continuous increment in the price of materials for bread making.
Cost of production
According to him, last year, 400 pieces of fire wood cost N8,000; 200 pieces N4,000 but now the prices have doubled. "Because of this, the association met and agreed to review upward the prices of our products. While other state branches went on strike to protest the increment in price of materials, we in Cross River State decided to use the period to clean up our bakeries as directed by the Ministry of Health and NAFDAC," he added.
Besides, Mr Madu said bakery workers have been asking for increment in pay and better wages, a development that has caused production problems for bakers. Some bakeries have closed shops as a result. One of them is Superior Foods Ltd.
"Most bakers work with low income hence we buy flour and other materials from distributors at Etim Edem Motor Park. We cannot afford to buy 600 bags of flour from Dangote Flour and Flour Mills of Nigeria as fixed by them. Thus, we buy from distributors who patronise them," he said.
Bread consumers in Calabar said the increase in price has affected their consumption of bread.
"Everyday, I buy bread for my kids but since last week, I space the days I buy bread for them," a father, John Etim said and advised the state government to intervene before bread is removed from the dinning tables of low-income earners.
Benin:
In Benin city prices of Bread soared last week and into this week .This was supposedly due to a strike by bakers in the Region . In Bauchi we earlier carried out a story just after the elections on the rise of prices of Bread in the region some adjudged it as apt after the callous way residents meted out Jungle Killings on corpers and christians owing to the failure of their candidate General Buhari at the just concluded Presidential Polls ..
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