Chronicle Editor
Andile Tshuma, Chronicle Reporter
THE price of bread may revert to $1 from $1.10 per loaf in the next two weeks as grain processors are engaging Government over procurement of wheat.
Addressing journalists in Bulawayo on Thursday, Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe chairperson Mr Tafadzwa Musarara said there may be changes in the price of the commodity in the next two weeks.
“We would like to assure the public that the wheat situation is improving and that we have since procured 30 tonnes of wheat which we are expecting from Mozambique. The shipment is due to arrive in the next 14 days,” he said.
“We have paid for the current crop of wheat in advance and it will be harvested very soon and we hope this will help to cushion our stocks. We are currently trying to engage Government on subsidising our purchase of wheat and this will likely see the price of bread coming down again”.
Mr Musarara said the wheat imports were likely to ease the strain on bakers and improve availability of bread in the country.
He said bread production was at 50 percent, with most shops in rural areas not getting any bread deliveries at all.
“Bread is currently at 50 percent supply and we are only able to supply mostly urban areas,” Mr Musarara said.
He said grain millers needed $30 million in foreign currency each month for procurement of wheat, of which $7 million went towards bread.
“$30 million is required each month for wheat, $8 million for rice and $2,5 million for salt. We are like any other industry, affected by foreign currency allocations and experienced our biggest challenge in July before Vice President Chiwenga intervened,” said Mr Musarara.
“Subsequent shipments were not funded leading to exhaustion of reserves, throwing us into the crisis that we encountered”.
He said his team had just come back from Beira and was dealing with logistics for the shipment to arrive in the country.
Mr Musarara said the market for bread had dramatically increased in the last decade due to changes in dietary patterns of people.
“Systematic changes in dietary requirements have contributed to a surge in the consumption of wheat and bread in particular.
“No country in Africa has the ability to produce its own food so imports are very much necessary by captains of industry for provision of supplies,” he said. – @andile_tshuma
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