The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria  (AMBCN), Abuja chapter, has lamented the high cost of raw materials for bread production.
 Consequently, the association says there may be a 30 per cent increase in the price of bread in order to avoid shutdown of bakeries.
 Chairman AMBCN, Mr Ishaq Abdulkareem,told newsmen in Abuja that the imminent increase in price was due to increase in the cost of ingredients and production.
 Abdulkareem said the prices of all ingredients used for baking were too high, especially flour and sugar and the increase in prices of other baking materials necessitated the development.
 He also appealed to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to reduce the cost of business registration.
 “We want to appeal to NAFDAC, they are our regulatory agency, the current cost they are demanding for registration is not part of ease of doing business.
 “We were paying N32,500 for registration before, and now it  is about N90,000,” Abdulkareem said.
 Chief Executive Officer of Bon Bread, Mrs Maria Cardillo, said there was need for increase in the price of bread to avoid collapse of bread business due to factors beyond the association’ control.
 “The 30 per cent has not been effected before and price needs to be increased again because we have had increase in prices of raw materials and we don’t have alternative.
 “For every N500 added on every cost of raw materials, it will affect our cost of production,” Cardillo said.
 She said the sector was faced with series of challenges that needed urgent attention to avoid collapse.
 Manager, Nextar Bakery, Ms Peace Izeduwa, also confirmed that the prices of raw materials were outrageous and was affecting the cost of bread.
Izeduwa urged the Federal Government to look into it and regulate the prices of material used in bread production adding that the 30 per cent planned increment was not even enough.
 “The 30 per cent we are trying to add on it, is not like it is going to take care of all our profit. Even with the increment of 30 per cent, we still are running at a loss.
 “Milk is now N54,000 as against N34, 000 that we were complaining of;  sugar used to be N18,000, it is now N20,000
 ‘’Butter used to be N9,000. Now we buy the same butter for N14,000 to N15,000.
 ‘’We have other issues such as the high cost of power. Last month, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company gave us a bill of N955,300, almost a million yet, power is not stable”, she said.