By Amadou Manjang
According to the Secretary General of The National Bakers Union, Lamin Dibba , the price increment on a loaf of bread is on-hold as they are set to discuss with the ministry of trade.
In a telephone call with Foroyaa, he said the pause came after the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade called for dialogue following their announcement.
The National Bakers’ Union had earlier announced the increment of bread price which should have commenced today. This announcement was made on Friday at the union’s office in Brusubi in a press conference.
The bakers wish to increase price of a loaf of bread from D10 to D13 and a dozen loaves from D110 to D120.
Speaking to the journalists, the President of the Union Amadou Tijan Jallow said they initially proposed to increase the price to D15 and the authority suggested D11, but they now agreed on D13 per loaf.
Bread is a widely consumed food for breakfast and dinner in the country.
However, the purported price increment comes ahead of Ramadan when bread is highly consumed by Gambians.
Jallow assured the public that they will get quality and enough bread during Ramadan. He added that they are increasing the price because they want to serve Gambians with quality.
Lamin Dibba, Secretary General of the Bakers Union said they have engaged all relevant stakeholders such as the Ministry of Trade, Weights and Measure and Food Safety and Quality Assurance, and Competition Commision on the price increment.
He said the weight of the bread will increase with good quality. He said the new weight for a loaf of bread will be 170 to 175 grams for senfour and 150 to 155 grams for tapalapa. The ‘old’ weight for most of the bread produced in The Gambia is 145 grams for senfour and 117 grams for tapalapa.
‘There is no compromise for the weight when the price of bread is increased,’ he added.
He pointed out that the price of the ingredients used in making bread over the years has increased while the price of bread remains stagnant.
He said the price of flour has increased from 1350 to 1950; improver from D1200 to D2500; yeast from D1250 to D2700; fuel from D52.23 to D81; cashpower unit from 10.9 to 14.9; ice from D125 to D150’ salt from D275 to D350; firewood from D2500 to D3000 between 2021 to 2025.
He further added that considering the aforesaid cost, each bread cost D7.25 but the taxes, rent, maintenance and salaries of the workers makes the cost higher. He said this has forced the closure of 18 registered bakeries who could not continue operating.
He said that the National Bakers Union will not comprise when it comes to the weight of bread produce by bakeries and that any bakery owner who is found cheating customers by producing less than the standard weight of bread agreed upon will be dealt with. He said they have monitoring capacity to ensure that their members comply with the weight.
