Breadmakers in the country have informed Nigerians to expect an imminent price hike as a result of increased production costs.
The president of the Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria (PBAN), Engr. Emmanuel Onuorah, recently issued this warning.
He explained that bread producers in Nigeria have been facing significant rises in production expenses, primarily due to the removal of fuel subsidy payments by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Onuorah further mentioned that the liberalization of the foreign exchange (forex) market by the federal government has had a negative impact on bread production.
He stated that a large portion of baking ingredients are imported, and the fluctuation in forex rates has led to increased expenses in clearing such items.
“Most of our baking ingredients are import dependent; ranging from flour produced from wheat, Ascorbic Acid, Calcium Propionate, Yeast, bread softener etc, are mostly imported,” Onuorah said.
“The forex floating led to increase in amount used for clearing and we know this will certainly lead to increase in prices of bread.
“The flour millers even wanted to use the forex floating as an alibi to increase the price of wheat flour and if they do that, the price of bread would go up significantly because we would pass on the cost.
“With any increase in the price of bread now, there will certainly be more drops in sales and more bakeries will certainly close shop,” the PBAN president pointed out.
Onuorah emphasized that Nigerians should prepare themselves for an upcoming rise in bread prices, which is concerning considering that bread is a staple food for nearly every individual in the country.
The head of the bread producers’ association also added that “the imposition of 7.5% Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel by the new administration of Tinubu has made the price increase immediately and this affected production and sales negatively.”
