Nigerian bakers have announced an increment in the price of bread by 20 percent amid soaring costs of production.
Last week, bakers, under the aegis of the Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria (PBAN), embarked on a four-day warning strike to demand government intervention regarding the prices of materials used in bread production.
On Monday, Bakers in Cross Rivers said they would hike prices and reduce production quantities amid the high cost of ingredients.
Thomas Odey, leader of the Master Bakers group, said in an interview with NAN.
Odey said the Cross River master bakers did not join the national body in their two weeks withdrawal of service.
“The planned increment is not even enough, this is because the price of every means of production has increased from condiments to diesel and all other raw materials,” Odey said.
“This is a global issue that is not peculiar to Nigeria or materials for baking alone, but the price of every foodstuff has increased significantly.
“In my contacts with big flour mills in the country, they will tell you the Russia/Ukraine crisis, exchange rate and the issue of sourcing foreign currency are posing major challenges and increasing the price of wheat flour.”
Odey further said the use of cassava and potato flour was an option, but the challenge was that the specific species of cassava needed for good flour production was not sufficient in Nigeria.
He added that the normal cassava that was common in Nigeria was bitter when used to produce flour, while potato cultivation was still largely at a subsistence level, making production insufficient in the country.
“In my training with Flour Mill, I discovered that they mixed cassava flour with wheat to get what they used, but the kind of cassava they used was a species we need to develop in large quantities,” he added.