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•High cost of production, raw materials shoot up price of staple food
• Consumers, bakers lament
By Cosmas Omegoh
Only yesterday, bread was Nigerians’ stable food. But now, that no longer seems to be true. Those days when bread was available to many have regrettably receded into history.
It would be recalled that about two months ago, with as much as N500, you were sure to pull off a luxury loaf of bread from the shelf. At breakfast, that would jolly well be more than enough for a family of five. Now, sadly, that is no longer the case.
As it stands, the fear is that a wider spectrum of Nigerians may not be able to buy hitherto an affordable loaf of bread because its price has gone very high.
Now, the bigger fear the acting Chairman, Association of Master Bakers and Caterers on Nigeria (AMBCON), Lagos State chapter, Mr Matthew Ayolla Olayiwola, said is that bread might not be there anymore for most people – “because the bakeries are closing down.”
On July 13, 2023, AMBCON said that it was increasing the cost of bread by 15 per cent.
Then, AMBCON’s National President, Alhaji Mansur Umar, and National Secretary, Mr Jude Okafor, cited the fall of the Naira which had caused astronomical increases in the price of flour and other ingredients, as well as the increases in the price of fuel, as major reason. The latter had affected transportation.
AMBCON noted that “the recent general increase has affected our production include additional N1.2 million on one truck of flour (N2,000 per bag), N3.6 million on a truck of sugar (N6,000 per bag), yeast additional N2,000 per carton, fuel from N205 to N550, diesel N650 to N700.”
Following the announcement, a family-size loaf of bread which sold for about N800 at that time now sells for N1,000 or more, the same with other loaves.
Our correspondent learnt that since the July increase, the various increases in the price of bread had been made secretly and indiscriminately too.
Bakers in the various localities have had to increase the prices of their products with a view to recovering their cost.
A baker in Isheri-Oshun area of Lagos, who craved for anonymity, lamented the rising cost of baking materials.
He told our correspondent that it was increasingly becoming difficult for bakers to be in business.
He said that most of them who had been old in the industry see their job more of service to the community hence their resolve to make bread available at all times. He, however, lamented that, that had come at a huge cost to the bakers hence the incessant increases in the prices of bread.
“Consider the exchange rate, for instance, and how it has affected the cost of baking ingredients. Consider the cost of fuel and transportation too.
“You go to the market today, the bag of floor you bought at XYZ naira is no longer the same again. Things keep changing. What about the price of sugar? These are the issues.”
He said that the way things stood, it had become needless for bakers to keep announcing increases in the prices of bread.
“When you return from the market and discover that the prices of materials have gone up again, should AMBCON be contacted to keep announcing new prices of bread all the time?
“The announcement we will make is the latest cost of bread any time anyone goes to the shop to buy. Whatever price a loaf is sold is a reflection of the individual baker’s price. That is it for now,” he said.
Buttressing the assertion, Mr Olayiwola, the Lagos State AMBCON boss told Sunday Sun that the challenges of the bakers were rooted in the soaring prices of raw materials.
“Right now, flour is costly; butter is costly – all the production materials are costly. They are increasingly becoming unaffordable right now,” he said.
He affirmed that foreign exchange was affecting everything in the baking industry.
‘You go to buy ingredients for baking and the dealers tell you they cannot get the dollar to import materials at a good rate. That is the problem.
“And when you go to the market to buy the materials, the prices you hear frighten you.
“Look at the price of sugar, for instance; right now, it is only Dangote and BUA that are still doing sugar. It is at the price they say they want to sell that you buy,” he said.
Mr Olayiwola expressed worry at the trend, adding that it was increasingly becoming unfortunate that the price of bread which ordinarily should be affordable by all was on the upward rise.
“But in spite of that, people are still eating bread no matter how small it is.
“But the sadder side of it now is that many who were hitherto producing bread are dropping out. They can no longer cope. Some bakers are winding down their businesses and venturing into Okada riding. Businesses are closing down. That is the challenge,” he said.
However, Mr Olayiwola does not believe Nigerians might one day be totally unable to afford bread.
“I don’t see that happening. The Nigerians I know are rugged. No matter what happens, people will continue to eat bread,” he believes.
He, however, admitted that if the situation remains as it were, “there is going to be significant reduction in the number of people eating bread.
“But if you ask me, I will rather say there might soon be a time when we, the bakers will not be able to afford the cost of raw materials to produce bread.
“This is because as the cost of raw materials keeps rising, the cost of bread will also be rising.”
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Olayiwola sent out a passionate appeal to the government at the centre, requesting that the baking industry must not die.
“We are appealing that those of them in the government should come to our rescue so that we can sustain our service to the society.
“The government should consider what it can do to bring down the cost of baking materials.
“Look at the price of sugar, for instance. A bag of sugar right now sells for N48,000, up from N20,000. The price of a bag of floor has risen to N40,000 up from N23,000.
“Before now, you could get a dealer to give you floor on credit. After production, you would pay him back, but not anymore. No dealer is prepared to do that now.
“That is why when you visit most bakeries in the neighbourhood, you will see that some of them have packed up. This is grossly affecting bakers.
“Imagine a small scale baker who used to produce up to 10 bags of floor daily. Now, most of them can hardly do three,” he said.
He also highlighted the cost of transportation as another source of headache.
“When you produce bread, remember that you have to sell it.
“Before now, some of us used to sell our bread largely at the bakeries. But now, things are changing; you need to take the product to the retailers to ensure that you make quick sales and get your money back.
“The cost of buying petrol to fuel the vehicle is killing. Some spend as much as N15,000 on fuel alone just to do one round of sales. All that cost subtracts from the profit you would have made.
“Now, we have not talked about the cost of fueling the generator at the bakery. You cannot leave your bakery in the dark neither would you rely solely on the power from the national grid.”
A lady, Madam Titilope, who uses her car to distribute bread, lamented the rising cost of the product and being in business.
“It is becoming very tough nowadays to be in business.
“As the price of bread keeps rising, so is the cost of its distribution.
“You buy a litre of fuel at almost N600, how much will one make a day from the trade? Yet, we have not talked about the damage to your vehicle as a result of bad roads,” she said.
She lamented that the gains she made from each dozen of loaves of bread sold was becoming too small that she was actually mulling quitting the business.
“Some bakers might be magnanimous to give you a dozen loaves at the cost of 11. But some don’t. You need to depend on the quantity you buy to survive.”
A consumer, Alhaji Adekunle Ajayi, who spoke to our correspondent, narrated that the price of a family loaf had risen as high as N1,500.
“Before now, one could buy a family-size loaf for N1,100. But the price of that has now risen to between N1,300 and N1,500 depending on the quality.
“We just woke up the other day to discover that N200 had been added to the amount we were buying bread,” he said.
Not left out is the price of the popular Agege bread which were the toast of the ordinary Lagos resident. The generic product has also seen sharp rises. Now, a loaf of Agege bread sells between N500 and N800, depending on the size and quality.
Other smaller sizes of loaves of bread were said to have emerged to cater to the needs of many at the grassroots, with the least quantity selling for N300. But the worry is that it is no longer satisfying, thus underscoring the fear that bread has fast gone out of the reach of the poor.
