The national government and the Confederation of Bakers of Bolivia They signed an agreement to maintain the price of battle bread at 50 cents per unit prior provision of subsidized inputs such as flour, sugar, butter and yeast. The baking sector carried out a work stoppage yesterday, Tuesday, but it was lifted after the agreement with the national authorities.
The Minister of Productive Development and Plural Economy, Néstor Huanca, and the bakery executive, Rubén Ríos, announced the points of the agreement.
“This effort is to keep the cost of bread at 50 cents per unit of battle bread at a weight of 60 grams per unit,” Huanca said at a press conference.
According to the state authority, This year, bakers will receive flour at a preferential price: 2.5 million 50-kilo bags, which exceeds the 2.4 million bags that were delivered last year.
In addition, the national government will deliver to bakers 126,000 quintals of sugar, 144,000 16-kilo boxes of butter and 48,000 boxes of yeast.
Ríos highlighted the agreement and He asked the authorities to comply with the delivery of the supplies. He added that a consensus was reached with his sector despite the request to increase the price per unit by 70 cents because production costs had increased.
“With this situation, we are going to maintain this year more at Bs 0.50 (the price of bread) for the well-being of the population as well,” he added.
Santa Cruz maintains price
In the capital of Santa Cruz, the bread sellers of the Los Pozos market They maintain the price at two units for Bs 1.50 and eight units for Bs 5. Meanwhile, wholesalers sell it at ten units for Bs 5. Until December of last year, the cost was twelve units for Bs 10.
“The bakeries have removed the bandage (extra product), We bought 12 loaves for Bs 5, In other words, they gave us two loaves of yapa, which was our profit by selling them (each one) for 50 cents, but there is no longer this yapa and that is why sometimes some people complain to us, telling us that we sell at the same price as the neighborhood stores.” said Martín Pandilla, a bread seller at the Los Pozos market.
On the other hand, Enrique Cabrera, vice president of the bakers in Santa Cruz, explained that in the region a smaller bread is made than the one made by those affiliated with the Confederation of Bakers of Bolivia, which is 60 grams, and added that They handle other costs.
“For example, I deliver bread for 42 cents (in the markets to sellers) so that they can sell them for 50 cents,” he explained.
He recalled that, in Santa Cruz, bakers do not work with subsidized flour and referred to the cost structure that has increased in inputs. For example, before a bag of flour was purchased at Bs 190 and 200 and now it does not go down from Bs 280 to 290. “That has increased the operating cost of the products.”
The baker added that the bag of sugar previously cost between Bs 190 and Bs 210 and now can be found at Bs 255 and Bs 270. The remaining input, butter, also increased its price and costs Bs 290 for the best quality bag. which was previously at Bs 250.
“We (bakers in Santa Cruz) have never received a subsidy because I believe that, at the time, the national government wanted to help with sugar, but they asked us for certain things that not all bakeries had. So, we had to be equitable for everyone.”
Finally, he said that he is considering affiliating Santa Cruz with the Confederation to “speak in a single tone.”
