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The Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria (PBAN) has called on the general public to disregard information making the rounds in some quarters that bakers have “wickedly” refused to bring down the price of bread despite a significant reduction in the price of flour.
Recently, a trending social media post urged consumers across the country to boycott bread for what it called the high level insensitivity of bakers to the plight of the nation’s masses who are labouring under hard economic challenges.
The post accused bakers of retaining bread prices at what they were when the price of a 50kg bag of flour soared to between N80,000 and N90,000 despite the price of flour falling to between N35,000 and N40,000.
Reacting to the said social media post, PBAN, in a statement released by its General Secretary, Emmanuel Onyoh, captioned, “Setting the Record Straight on Flour Prices and Bread Production Costs”, said: “The attention of the Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria (PBAN) has been drawn to a viral, malicious and highly deceptive social media post claiming that the price of flour has plummeted to between N35,000 to N40,000 per 50kg bag. The post further accused bread makers of “wickedly” refusing to reduce the prices of bread to reflect this purported drop.
“We wish to state categorically that these claims are false, baseless and a calculated attempt to incite the Nigerian public against hardworking bakers who are struggling to stay afloat.”
Giving clarification on what it termed the current reality of flour pricing, the statement noted that, “the price of a 50kg bag of wheat flour is between N55,000 and N62,000 (depending on the brand and where you’re buying from) significantly higher than the fabricated figures circulating online.
“While some flour millers recently announced a marginal price reduction of approximately N2,000, this is a ‘drop in the ocean’ compared to the overall production deficit.
“Mathematically, a N2,000 reduction on a bag of flour translates to about N20 saving on the family sized loaf. This small margin is immediately swallowed by the skyrocketing costs of other essential inputs such as yeast, improver, margarine and preservatives.” Expantiating what it called “the hidden costs of your daily bread”, the statement further said: “Besides flour, there are other various ingredients required for operational cost and processes in bread.
PBAN members are currently battling a ‘perfect storm’ of economic pressures that make a price reduction impossible at this time.
“These include the energy crisis – the cost of electricity and the diesel required to power industrial ovens and generators has reached an all-time high; equipment and maintenance – 90 per cent of baking machinery are imported. The replacement cost of equipment and repairs have increased tremendously in the past few years; logistics and distribution-we are facing unprecedented expenses in fueling and maintaining distribution vehicles to get bread to your neighbourhoods amidst deteriorating road networks.
“Labour and minimum wage – in compliance with the new National Minimum Wage of N70,000, our wage bills have increased significantly. We choose to pay our staff fairly rather than shut down; multiple taxation – bakers are currently burdened by a ‘spectrum of taxes’ from federal, state, and local government agencies, many of which are overlapping and punitive; our commitment to the public – PBAN, as a responsible association that is mindful of the shrink on disposable income of consumers, we have advised our members to maintain same quality standard and consider introducing bread variants in sizes that fall/fit into various consumer strata.”
In conclusion, the statement said, “we assure the general public that our members shall not hesitate to reduce the prices of bread the moment the cost dynamics and the Nigerian economy reflect a genuine and sustainable downward trend. “Our primary goal remains the provision of quality, safe and affordable bread that meets the highest regulatory standards.
“We urge the public to disregard the misinformation being spread by keyboard critics who have no understanding of the manufacturing reality in Nigeria.”
