The price of a pound flour will soar by 24 cents. That’s right, on Friday Minister of Trade Erwin Contreras signed a statutory instrument increasing the cost for a pound of flour from 60 to 84 cents. And while that’s the bad news, the good news is that there won’t be a corresponding increase in bread – at least not yet.
What’s behind the increase is a worldwide shortage of wheat. And so with supply down and demand high – prices have skyrocketed. While both the past PUP and new UDP governments have been delaying the increase – ADM Belize Mills, Belize’s only producer of flour told government it couldn’t continue absorbing the increases. So as of tonight, a hundred pound sack of flour which was $58 will now be $82.
These prices do not apply to bakers because ADM Belize Mills, Government, and the Baker’s Association have a struck a deal whereby ADM Belize Mills will sell flour to bakers at the old price to maintain the current controlled price of $1.25 for un-sliced bread and $1.50 for sliced bread.
The Bakers’ Association has expressed dissatisfaction with the wording of that release from government. President Andre Perez says they will get the discounted price on Bebe Agua, the type of flour used to make bread. And it will be portioned only for use on the $1.50 loaf. The bakers will have to pay the increase on the other types of flour such as Gitana and Purity – used to make other bakery products. Perez says that despite the increase in the price of those other flour, it is the bakers who’ve decided to keep the price steady in those products. Also important is that the agreement is only temporary and both government and the Bakers’ Association concede that if wheat prices continue to increase – the price for a pack of bread will inevitably have to rise as well.
So to recap, the retail price for a pound of flour is now 84 cents. That’s represents a 24 cent increase, or 39%. Secondly, and this is the good news, for now, bakers won’t be increasing the cost for a loaf of bread. To keep it in context, the price of flour went up 30% in Barbados yesterday and 29% in Jamaica last week. All a cause of surging wheat prices worldwide. In Belize, the acquisition cost of wheat has gone up 182% since June 2006.
