The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN), Abuja Chapter said it might increase the price of bread in the Nigerian capital by 30 per cent.

Ishaq Abdulkareem, AMBCN chairman, on Monday, disclosed that the hike was due to the high cost of ingredients for bread production, including flour and sugar.

He added that bakeries may be forced to close their businesses if bread prices were not increased.

The association boss also appealed to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to reduce the cost of business registration.

“We want to appeal to NAFDAC, they are our regulatory agency, the current cost they are demanding for registration is not part of ease of doing business. We were paying N32,500 for registration before, and now it is about N90,000,” Abdulkareem said in a Daily Trust report.

According to the paper, officials of Bon Bread and Nextar Bakery in Abuja confirmed the development.

Maria Cardillo, CEO Bon Bread, said there was a need for an increase in the price of bread to avoid the collapse of the bread business due to factors beyond the association’s control.

“For every N500 added on every cost of raw materials, it will affect our cost of production,” Cardillo said.

Peace Izeduwa, manager, Nextar Bakery, noted that the 30 per cent planned increment was not enough to offset the increase in bread production cost and return the business to profitmaking.

“Milk is now N54,000 as against N34, 000 that we were complaining of; sugar used to be N18,000, it is now N20,000,” she told Daily Trust. ‘’Butter used to be N9,000. Now we buy the same butter for N14,000 to N15,000.

‘’We have other issues such as the high cost of power. Last month, Abuja Electricity Distribution Company gave us a bill of N955,300, almost a million yet, power is not stable.

‘’We still run on the generator, water is not free.

“We need the government to look into these issues and help us regulate the price of all the raw materials we are using in the bread industry and other industries.”