Dorothy Nakaweesi
17 April 2008
Kampala — CONSUMERS may be forced to start rationing bread and others could scrap it off their shopping list because of its escalating price.
In most supermarkets, in and around Kampala, a kilogramme of bread now costs Shs3,000 ($1.8) up from Shs2,000 ($1.2).
The high price has been attributed to the global deficit in wheat supplies, which is the main ingredient in the baking of bread and other confectionaries like biscuits, doughnuts and pizzas among others.
Ms Jalia Katende a resident of Nakulabye said: "Now bread has become too expensive even for the low income earners like us. A pack of 6 buns which used to cost Shs600 is now at Shs1, 200 thus making the price of a single bun go up to Shs200 down from Shs100.
The Sales Manager Uganda Biscuit Company Mr Saron Mohammed in an interview with Daily Monitor said: "A carton weighing 50 kilogrammes which was priced at Shs48,000 a month ago, now costs Shs73,000 and this is subject to increase".
Mr Mohammed added: "Because of this we have decided to cut on the production because the consumers are also not buying expensive products".
He said that they have been forced to reduce from the original five tones of wheat used in the baking to three tonnes. Now a 100 grammes packet of biscuit, which used to cost Shs200, has been hiked to Shs300.
The confectionary is still recovering from the recent post election Kenyan violence which saw hundreds of tones of wheat destined for Uganda from Mombasa Port burnt and others confiscated by the errant protestors.
Information from the Uganda Manufacturers Association indicated that over seven trucks of 40 feet carrying wheat plus another 32 tonnes of wheat were looted over during the crisis.
This has since affected the stocks of the millers as their inventories are being depleted. As a result a high cost of production and escalating prices of raw materials have made it difficult for industries to run.
Global reports indicate that the price of wheat has more than tripled during the past 10 months, making daily bread and bagels, pizza and pasta feel a little like luxurious items.
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