Consumers in Rivers State brace for higher bread costs as prices are set to rise starting from Thursday February 8th, 2024.
Dr. Chidi Emmanuel, Chairman of the Rivers State chapter of the Master Bakers Association of Nigeria, disclosed the impending price hike following an emergency meeting held in Port Harcourt.
Dr. Emmanuel attributed the increase to escalating material expenses, elevated cargo clearance charges imposed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and soaring energy costs, collectively necessitating the adjustment in loaf prices.
He said, “There is going to be price increment on all bread sizes from Thursday simply because most of the things we use in producing bread are imported.
“So if naira has moved from N1,000 a month ago to about N1,500 to the dollar today, price of things must go up. And that is the position of master bakers, Rivers State branch.
“And it is a nation-wide thing, some states have implemented even before today. There is a directive by the national association to all the states to review their cost of production and increase selling price accordingly.
“So, we are complying with a directives from the national headquaters and it is effective Thursday. It is a decision taken by the association.”
He also said while the prices of loaves of bread will increase, the association will however maintain standards in the production of bread in the state, urging bread consumers to bear with the association.
Emmanuel further said, “My advice to them (consumers) is to keep managing. Let’s believe that there will be improvement in the near future.
“If the price of the raw materials come down, we will call a meeting again and reduce the prices downward. If the raw materials continue to go up we will call a meeting again and review upwards. It is purely an issue of buying and selling.
“So they (bread producers) should try and maintain standard so that they don’t use banned substances to produce bread.
“It is better to produce small quantity and sell than a large quantity and unable to sell.”
He further advised producers of bread to minimize losses by taking the purchasing power into consideration.
He stated that the association would unveil the prices of all bread loaves across the state starting from Thursday.