Bread prices rise as costs pitch

Soaring grain prices coupled with high electricity and fuel bills are pushing bakers to raise the price of bread.

“We cannot continue shouldering the costs ourselves and the time has come when we must raise bread prices by at least 5c,” said Karmenu Micallef, a baker who will increase his today.

“The price of flour has already risen by €4 a sack and this will now have a ripple effect on customers,” Mr Micallef, a former president of the Bakers’ Cooperative, said.

Drought in Russia and the Ukraine and floods in Canada and Pakistan have practically brought grain harvesting to a standstill, with the price of wheat rising by 80 per cent.

Raymond Briffa, president of the Bakers’ Cooperative, pointed out that things only seemed to be getting worse, with bakers expecting further rises in the coming months. “The price of flour has already risen twice and, according to the information we have, that of wheat is expected to continue rising in the next two months,” he said.

Although some bakers seemed to have already raised the price of bread, Mr Briffa said cooperative members were asking for a meeting to decide on a common price.

The cooperative is waiting for the price of flour to stabilise before calling a meeting so bread prices would be raised once rather than every time costs increased. “In the meantime, we have to suffer the costs ourselves but it is not going to be long before we meet, maybe within a week or two at most, to reach an agreement,” he said.

The soaring flour prices are also affecting larger companies, such as Golden Harvest.

“The price of flour increased by 14 per cent three weeks ago. This, together with the drastic hike in gas and electricity rates, has already forced us to raise the price of some of our products by an average five per cent about a week ago,” said director Mark Aquilina.

“The price of the traditional loaf has remained the same but we cannot exclude that it would become costlier seeing that the price of flour rose again by six per cent last week. It is a tough time,” he continued.

The price of bread was increased twice over the past four years when bakers still received government subsidies. The market was liberalised last year and bakers can set their own prices.

The United Nations Food Agency said last week it would hold a special meeting to discuss rising world food prices as Russia extended a wheat export ban and food riots broke out in Mozambique.