The Minister of Productive Development and Plural Economy, Néstor Huanca, assured that the supply of flour for the country’s bakery sector is guaranteed for this year and even for the 2023 administration.
“We have signed an agreement between the Food Production Support Company (Emapa) and the National Confederation of Artisan Bakers of Bolivia (Conpabol). The agreement that we have established with that confederation basically establishes the guarantee of supply at a fair price in the departments of Cochabamba, La Paz, Oruro, Potosí and Chuquisaca”, Huanca explained.
the minister he was surprised that the Santa Cruz bakers are not part of the national guild and hinted that the position responds to a political decision, in order to damage the image of the Government.
“It can be seen that Santa Cruz is not included because they have never sued him. There was never any concern we would not like to believe that there is a political desire to generate a certain level of shortage that they want to generate from the region,” said the authority.
He also asked the subnational governments to carry out controls in order to avoid the premium on the sale of products.
About, Abigail Escóbar, president of the Federation of Bakers of Santa Cruz, He clarified that the situation of the local bakeries is different from that of the other departments and recalled that the negotiations are carried out with the Vice Ministry of Domestic Trade, Grover Lacoa.
After announcing the increase in the price of bread starting this Monday, the bakers of Santa Cruz determined to enter an intermediate room until Thursday in order to establish negotiating tables with the Government.
“It is not only the flour that is the problem, it is also the butter, the sugar, the cheese, it is everything. Ensuring the supply of flour is not the solution to what we want,” said Escóbar.
Clarified that the so-called battle bread in Santa Cruz is not exactly the marraqueta, as it is considered inside, but it is all bread based on flour, salt and water.
In this sense, the bread that is produced mostly in Santa Cruz it is called special bread, because it includes other ingredients.
“In other departments this special bread is also made, but we, at some point, we made the mistake of putting the same price than that of other departments”, explains Escóbar.
In this sense, the denomination would be key to reaching an agreement, because what The Government wants is that in Santa Cruz a battle bread is produced so that the bakers can access the flour subsidy, as they receive in other regions.
“It has been considered to produce marraqueta as battle bread, as well as bagasse bread, also called colla bread. Both are being worked on, and with these results, on Tuesday we will sit down with the deputy minister and we hope that they will be flexible with the sector so that they give us the flour,” said the Santa Cruz bakery.
The board mentioned that the negotiations will be with the vice-ministry, after an attempt was made to reach an agreement with the Santa Cruz municipality. “The Mayor’s Office has closed its doors to us, we don’t understand why,” said Escóbar.
“Let’s hope that a solution is reached, because we don’t want to continue working at a loss, maybe prices will be established and there is no need to raise the product. Consideration has been given to shrinking the breadbut, the truth, you don’t want to get to that, it wouldn’t be fair, “he added.