Bread prices in Ukraine may rise
Most large bakery enterprises have the status of critical infrastructure and are not subject to scheduled shutdowns. But emergency blackouts due to shelling are becoming more frequent.
In the first ten days of February, Ukrainians will notice an increase in bread prices by about 5%. The reason is a sharp jump in producers' expenses: electricity, work during blackouts, wage increases. For consumers it is an increase of several hryvnias per month, and for bakers - a critical measure to keep bread on the shelves. This was told by the first vice-president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Bakers Oleksandr Taranenko.
According to him, in the coming week the enterprises plan to revise prices, adding about a hryvnia to the standard loaf.
He pointed out that since the beginning of the year the cost of production has increased by 6-7%. The main blow came to electricity: in January tariffs rose by almost 30%, which added 2-3% to the costs. Emergency blackouts and minimum wage hikes are also hitting the industry.
Each outage is a risk to the finished dough: if the power goes out during baking or ripening of sourdough starter, the product is defective and the manufacturer has to start the process all over again," he explained.
Taranenko noted that most large enterprises have generators, but they are not designed to work without stopping for several days. In winter, they use Arctic diesel fuel, which is more expensive than conventional fuel and can freeze in severe frosts.
Small bakeries are often forced to stop work temporarily, and the delivery of flour and ready bread is complicated by Russian infrastructure and frost.
Another factor is the increase in the minimum wage from 1 January. For an industry where a significant part of processes remains labour-intensive, this is a tangible burden. As a result, producers are in a situation where it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain stable operations without price adjustments," he said.
According to Taranenko, 5% of price increase is about a hryvnia or "hryvnia with a tail" on a loaf. For one person, standard bread is usually enough for several days, so on the scale of a month we are talking about an extra few hryvnias.