Bakers Consider Hike In Bread Price

Bakers in the country may double the price of loaves on a country of increasing rates of flour,according to the President of the Bakers Association of Nigeria, Daud Suleiman.

He spoke at a stakeholders meeting in Lagos,where he said he lamented the price of flour had doubled in the last seven months without any basis for the adjustment.

According to him,the price of a bag of flour was N10,300 in January,  stressing  that as of last week, flour was being sold for over N20,000.

He added:“The millers always blame  the hike in price on the dollar-naira exchange rate. But most of them have silos and storage capacity that can sustain them for six months. But as soon as there is a little slide in the exchange rate, they increase their prices.They should tell us; do they import every day? At least, if you have your storage, when you exhaust that one, you then buy another one and increase. But in a single month, they can inflate the price of flour three times.”

He said millers are cheating Nigerians because the prices of bread in Gambia and other neighbouring countries  were relatively cheaper than Nigeria,adding that the quality

 of flour in those countries were also superior to what was being supplied in the country.

He stated :“Most of them don’t even have mills; they import. But in Nigeria, we have mills and ours are still more expensive. The bakers are at the mercy of the millers. The relationship is supposed to be mutually beneficial, but it is typically parasitic”.

He lamented that  bakers were using firewood instead of burners, to reduce costs even as he

implored  the Federal Government and Nigerians to prevail on millers to reduce the rates in the interest of the industry.

Also speaking,the  National Leader of the

group, Prince Jacob Adejorin, claimed  many bakers were also being  harassed by certain groups who did not want their views aired on the sorry state of the industry and the plight of workers therein.

He added:“Bakers are in debt and many have stopped working. Many of us are no longer in the business. Some have returned to their villages and others are riding tricycles just to survive. We are suffering in silence,” he added.