By VERONICA DARIYA

Some bakers in Bwari Area Council, Abuja, have attributed the low patronage of pastries to the continuous increase in the cost of baking materials.

The bakers expressed their views in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

Mr Solomon Amedu, a baker and manager of a bakery in Bwari, told NAN that his bakery had increased the price of bread, doughnuts, burgers and other pastries and this discourage buyers.

Amedu said the prices of bread increased three times in 2023 due to the increase in prices of baking materials.

This, he added, transited into 2024 and had forced the bakery to reduce the number of production because of the decrease in patronage, especially for bread.

“Before now, we bake twice a day and sell over 100 pieces of bread alone; because we have people who come here to buy in bulk to resell either in their shops or by the roadside.

“Last year, our production reduced after we increased the price of the different types of bread we baked.

“The lowest loaf used to sell for N700 and the biggest, a special type of bread called the chicken bread, sold for N1000.

“Now, the lowest loaf is N1,100 and the chicken bread now costs N1,500.

“We now bake once a day of just 60 loaves of bread, 20 pieces of doughnuts, 20 burgers and yet, we hardly sell all in one day,’’ he said.

Amedu added that some of his customers had complained that they could not afford the big loaves anymore and so, have resolved to buying smaller and cheaper locally produced loaves.

He said that reducing the prices of pastries would not only bring the business down.

Similarly, Miss Cynthia Okoye, another baker, said that business had gone down because she did not bake as much as she used to in the past.

This, she attributed to the increase in cost of baking materials as well as other food items in the market.

“Last year, by this time, I got as much as 20 orders for Valentine celebrations alone.

“Business has been very poor because my customers no longer bake birthday cakes, especially for children, instead, they just buy biscuits and drinks and share,” she said.

Okoye, who also attributed the high cost of baking materials and other foodstuff to increase in dollar exchange rate, pleaded with the government to find an immediate but lasting solution to the predicament.

Malam Shefiyu Aminu, a trader, who owned a wholesale store in the area, also attributed the increase in the price of the food items to the increase in dollar exchange rate.

According to Aminu, a bag of flour in December 2023, was sold for N35,000 but now goes for between N46,000 to N48, 000, depending on the market location in the FCT.

He also said that a bag of sugar in December 2023, sold for N62, 000 but currently ranged from N75,000 to N80,000 per bag, while a carton of butter rose from N23,000 to N28,000 in less than two months. (NAN)

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