The price of traditional Maltese bread is likely to rise again, probably between 2c and 4c, because of increases in the cost of flour, water, electricity, gas and fuel.
Although a final decision has not yet been taken, the increase was “inevitable”, according to Bakers’ Cooperative president Ray Briffa.
Bakers were reluctant to increase their prices again but had no option if their labour costs continued to soar, he told The Sunday Times.
Mr Briffa stressed that bakers were, however, aware that a price increase would “definitely” have an impact on consumption, apart from losing out to competition with imported bread.
The increase in the price of raw material and labour costs just adds to the woes bakers have already been facing as they face a drop of 10 to 15 per cent in sales, with more consumers opting for imported bread.
Mr Briffa said that within a fortnight the supplier of flour would inform them of the new price which, they have unofficially been told, could rise between €1 and €4 for a 50-kilogramme sack, from which bakers produce approximately 100 loaves.
A large loaf can currently be purchased for between 65c and 70c, depending on the point of sale.
Mr Briffa said a rough calculation would see a loaf increasing by 1c for every €1 increase in the price of a sack of flour, plus another 1c to cover increases in the price of fuel, gas, water and electricity.
He said that imported bread of inferior quality and which was much more expensive was proving to be more popular than the traditional Maltese bread.
He said the wheat Maltese bakers use was of the best quality with a very high amount of protein compared with imported bread, even though the cost of the foreign product was much higher.
Unfortunately, however, he said consumers seemed to be more willing to pay 70c for a supermarket baguette when they could get a better quality product from bakers for much less.
Despite the price increases for raw materials, not all bakers were considering increasing the price of their products.
Veteran baker Karmenu Farrugia said he preferred to focus his efforts on keeping his costs low rather than increase the price of his bread.
“I would be the last baker to increase my prices. I prefer shouldering the costs than seeing my sales plummet. What’s the use of increasing the price of my bread if I’m going to sell fewer loaves? The market is liberalised so bakers can increase their prices without anyone stopping them but it’s counterproductive,” he said.
Mr Farrugia said bakers hadto be more careful with thequantities they produced to reduce waste and incur less costs. He also lamented that bakers could not calculate how much they needed to produce since supermarkets returned the bread they failed to sell, which would have to be thrown away.