FG should subsidise prices of flour, butter, others — Bakers

Bakers in Delta State have urged the Federal Government to subsidise the cost of the importation of flour and other baking materials in order to reduce the cost of bread in the country.

Mr Silvanus Ozor, manager of Finger Chops Ventures, made the plea when journalists visited the bakery after a two-day capacity building organised by the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND).Ozor stated that the high foreign exchange regime had removed bread, a staple food, from the tables of many Nigerians.

“If you look at the food industry, the Federal Government helps in subsidising the cost of rice in Nigeria.

“Since bread is a stable food in Nigeria, government should also help in subsidising the purchase of flour, so that they can help we master bakers.

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“So, they should work out a percentage rate through which we can get relief. If government helps in subsidizing, definitely the price of flour will come down and then bakers can now maximise profit and as well increase their volume.

“If they can help in subsidising the price of flour, it means that when we bakers are smiling, we can as well change our yield and as well increase.

“Then the masses can, as well, enjoy reasonable volumes and get good value for what they are paying for.

“If you look at what goes into the bakery industry, everything the bakery needs: flour, butter, yeast are being imported; the only thing that is not imported is groundnut oil.

“That is why prices of bread in the country can never come down; it will keep rising every day,” he lamented.

Ozor lauded PIND for connecting the bakery to a pull of funds that hadassisted it to purchase new equipment, employ more hands and increase its production volume to a marginal increase of 40 per cent as well as its profit index.