Why the price of bread is high — Bakers explain

The Premium Bread Makers Association of Nigeria, PBAN, has said the surge in the price of bread was caused by volatility in exchange.

Remember that before the ascension to the office of the present government, the exchange rate hovered around N465 to the dollar in the official market and N762 in the parallel market but soon increased close to N2,000 under the present Bola Tinubu government, which has also brought the value down to a little over N1,000.

Emmanuel Onuorah, PBAN President, hinted that most of the materials for baking bread were imported and paid for in dollars, spoke in an interview on Arise News Global Business Report on Tuesday.

The PBAN President added that the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine had negatively impacted bread production, as both warring European neighbors were major wheat suppliers to Nigeria.

“Bread is a staple food. Bread is supposed to be a pick-and-grab food at any location. It’s on the table for the children.

“Bread is a spiritual product, outside of being physical, because it does so much for humanity. As bakers, for us in Nigeria, it’s been tough.

“Some of the basic materials we use in producing our bread are imported into Nigeria, that is about almost 98 percent, and that’s the truth.

“In a country where you almost don’t have a strong, productive base, and at that, everything is dependent on the dollar. When dollar-naira exchange is volatile, when (there is) FX issue where naira begins to go down against the dollar, we are in a problem,” he said.

He had said in December 2023 that the price of bread would go up by 15 percent to 20 percent in January 2024 across Nigeria, following the removal of fuel subsidies and the government’s forex reforms.

“There is a way Nigerians want their bread. You know we’re are the highest consumers of white bread globally.

”When you go to other places, they take croissants, they take baguettes, and other forms of bread.

“But, our bread (in Nigeria) comes in certain shapes. It must be sweet; it must be soft and succulent. If you don’t produce it that way, you’re out of business.

“60 to 65 percent of the whole thing comes from wheat, and most of our wheat comes from Ukraine, Russia, and other parts of the world,” he added.