There are fears that the increase in price of flour, which is major ingredient in making bread, will push up the price bread in the coming weeks.
Bakers in the country have complained that the price of a bag of flour has doubled from N10,300 in January to N20,000 this month.
Bread is a staple food consumed by most Nigerians.
Speaking at a stakeholders forum, the President of the Bakers Association of Nigeria, Daud Suleiman, said there was no reasonable explanation for the recent increase in the price of flour.
He said, “The millers always hinge 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.”
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The National Leader of the group, Prince Jacob Adejorin, said many bakers were also being intimidated by certain groups who did not want their views aired, adding that workers in the industry were going through hardship.
“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.
Earlier this year, the bakers increased the price of bread, biscuit and other baked items by 30 per cent due to the rise in cost of materials.
This is following a directive given by the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN) after the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held by the executives of the association in Abuja.
The National President, Mansur Umar, had said that the increment in price was as a result of the sudden increase in the cost of production as well as prices of sugar, butter, yeast and flour.
