Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE JAMAICA Bakers' Association (JBA) is warning consumers to brace for an increase in the price of baked products.
"We want the public to know that when we raise our prices it is because of the massive price increase that we have got from Flour Mills," president of the Jamaica Bakers' Association, Gerald Chambers, told The Gleaner yesterday.
FLOUR MILLS INCREASES
Noting that regular consumers of bread, bulla and bun are the most likely to feel the pinch, Mr. Chambers said the JBA has no recourse outside of raising prices in the face of recent cost increases from Jamaica Flour Mills Ltd., the major flour distributor in the island.
"I got a fax from the Flour Mills on Friday evening, which says the price of baking flour has gone from $1,290 a bag (ex factory) to $1,440, which is an 11.5 per cent increase," he said. "On counter flour it has gone from $1,145 (ex factory) to $1,200, which is a 4.5 per cent," he said.
He also noted that persons who buy from a distributor will face even greater increases.
"A lot of people cannot buy from Flour Mills because you have to buy 300 bags at a time so they have to buy from distributors ... For those (buyers) the increase is definitely going to be more than $150 a bag," the JBA boss said.
Seeming to understand the plight of the bakers, managing director of Jamaica Flour Mills Limited, James Gills, says the increase is the best the company could do for the industry as they too are facing an increase in costs.
"Wheat prices are at a 10-year high and there is a drought in the United States," he said, noting that the hike percentage "is still less than inflation."
