The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN) has placed consumers of bread and biscuits on alert that prices of the staples will increase by 30 per cent.
This, they said had become necessary to cushion the impact of the rising cost of production.
National president of the AMBCN, Mansur Umar, made this known at the end of the association’s national executive council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, on Thursday.
He said increase in prices of flour and other baking materials necessitated the development.
The association noted that a truck of flour which was previously sold at N6 million is now N9 million.
“The incessant increase of prices of flour and other baking materials is responsible for the decision. In the last six months, one truck of flour that we used to buy at less than N6m is now N9m.
“After considering the impact of the skyrocketed prices of baking ingredients/materials, for the survival of our noble business, which is presently bleeding, the association came to the conclusion to adjust our prices by 30 percent,” the statement read.
The association called on the federal government to take urgent steps towards reducing the high price of flour.
It also urged the government to reverse the high tariff regime imposed by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and limit regulation of bakers to NAFDAC.
It would be recalled that in 2020, the association had hinted at a 50 percent increase in the price of bread, citing the surging cost of raw materials and COVID-19 impact.
According to the selected food price watch for April 2021 report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the price of a loaf of sliced bread grew by 5.18 percent year-on-year while unsliced bread grew by 6.14 percent.
