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There would be a hike in the price of bread “to enable bakers to remain in business,” Chief Simeon Abanulor, the National Chairman, Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria, has said.
Abanulor at a news conference in Umuahia on Friday, said that the cost of raw materials, such as flour and sugar had skyrocketed and that bakers in the country had been operating at a loss.
His words:
“We are helpless because the price of raw materials ranging from flour to sugar, wheat and butter, has gone up.
“It is therefore imperative that for us to remain in business, we will have to increase the price of bread.”
The chairman explained that the Association at a meeting with flour producers appealed to them to review the price of flour downward.
“However, they told us that there is nothing they can do because the Federal Government is not giving them foreign exchange and that they source it by themselves at the parallel market.
“They maintained that they cannot sell below their cost price.”
What about cassava flour?
Abanulor said:
“You cannot bake cassava bread without an improver, it will not work. Our challenge is that we reached an agreement with the Federal Government that they are going to give us an improver.
“There are lots of potential in cassava flour but the problem is that government cannot provide us with improver.”
“Improver” refers to the enzyme that will enhance the cassava flour for the baking process.
