ANOTHER BREAD PRICE HIKE APPROVED

MANZINI – A white loaf of bread will now cost E16.73.

This follows that yesterday, Cabinet approved the increment of bread prices. This increment comes barely four months from the last hike, which was effected in March. The hike, according to impeccable sources, has been necessitated by the escalating costs of production for bakers. The cost of raw materials has been in an upward pricing since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The two countries are the largest suppliers of wheat, which is the main ingredient in the production of bread.

The proposed prices increment is 20.76 per cent higher than what bread retails today. According to impeccable sources, the hike might be effected at the end of this week as the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade has already sought that the proposed prices be gazette into law. The 20.76 per cent increment means that a loaf of white bread weighing 800 grammes shall now have a maximum retail price of E16.73, which is a E2.88 hike from the current price of E13.85.

Brown

Also, a loaf of brown bread weighing 800 grammes shall now retail at E14.58 as it shall increase by E2.51 as it is currently sold at E12.07. The Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Siboniso Nkambule, was sent a questionnaire wherein he was informed that this publication had reliably gathered that there could be a bread price hike in the upcoming weeks following a request to implement same.
The PS was informed that this publication had gathered that yesterday, Cabinet approved the proposal of the new bread price increment and subsequent to that, he was sought for assistance in establishing the following; what the new percentage that had been requested by the Bakers Association was, and when the bread hike would be implemented.
He was also asked how the ministry would manage to ensure that this was sustained in such an economy.
He said: “The proposed price increment was 20.76 per cent and that the ministry was seeking that it be implemented this Friday.”
The PS said the ministry was using the Price Control Order Act of 1973 to ensure that suppliers of bread were not charging exorbitant prices but kept them at affordable levels.
Nkambule said the ministry conducted inspections to check adherence to the stipulations of the gazette in terms of the weight against the prices.
Prices
Meanwhile, in March 2022, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo, in a press statement, said government had approved the increase of prices for both brown and white bread by six per cent.
At the time, the minister said the increase had been necessitated by the escalating prices of raw materials such as wheat, flour and premix among other ingredients used in bread production. Khumalo said the fuel hikes also had an adverse effect in the profitability of the industry.
The minister said the increase was envisioned at keeping the bakers businesses at sustainable profitability levels and retaining human resource in this industry as it employed a significant number of emaSwati.
Revoked
The announcement by the minister revoked Legal Notice No.256 of 2020 as articulated in the issuance of the Maximum Wholesale and Retail Prices of Bread Notice, 2022.
It is worth noting that there has been a large threat to the bakers industry given the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
This is because since the war started, the prices of wheat, which is the core ingredient in the recipe for bread, have surged by 40 per cent.

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