"It's Very Disheartening," Retailers Concerned As Bread Prices Soar

Retailers have expressed concern over the prices of bread which are rapidly going up urging the government to intervene to save the situation.

Mr Denford Mutashu, the Confederation of Retailers Association of Zimbabwe chief executive told the Chronicle that the changes in prices of bread are linked to production constraints and constrained foreign currency supply. He added:

It is very disheartening that bread prices are continuously going up. I think what needs to be done is for government to intervene, they need to sit down with bakers, millers and importers of wheat in order to find ways to contain these bread price increases.

He also observed the need addressing the issue holistically noting that bakers are increasing prices to recover costs incurred.

Zimbabwe this year experienced a huge shortage of bread which was attributed to the depletion of wheat reserves and shortage of foreign currency to import enough wheat.

Meanwhile, the shortage is expected to linger for a long period of time considering that this year’s winter-wheat production was a “failure” due to drought, power cuts fuel shortages.

Bread prices are going up when the country is heading towards the festive season when the commodity is usually on high demand.

More: The Chronicle.